|
Many Americans have been victimized by an outdated conception
of manufactured homes—one which has been perpetuated in the
news media, and reinforced by the reporting of disasters such
as Florida's six-week-long siege of hurricanes in 2004. During
this period, a number of erroneous "facts" were spread
either by rumor or reporting. In many cases, the news media, rather
than searching out the truth, simply passed on the same kind of
rumors one hears waiting in line at supermarkets.
For instance, CNN meteorologist Chad Meyers, reporting during
the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, told a nationwide audience
that "National Guard guys this morning said there are stacks of
bodies in that mobile home park in Punta Gorda." Such rumors
were rife in the aftermath of Charley. One Punta Gorda resident
was quoted by the media as saying "Six hundred people are missing
from trailer parks and the bodies are being stored in freezer
trucks!"
But passing along rumors is not responsible reporting. IN
FACT, according to state officials, in all of Florida, 16
people died as a result of this deadly storm. Only two of these
fatalities were related to manufactured homes, and those deaths
occured when the residents of a decades-old mobile home ignored
an evacuation order.
It was not just the news media which attacked the manufactured
home industry in the wake of Charley. Commentators such as fiction
writer Carl Hiassen also pur forward much misinformation. Writing
in the Miami Herald on August 22, 2004, Hiassen said "There
is no such thing as a safe [manufactured] home."
IN FACT, manufactured homes held up well, even when compared
to site-built homes. That this was be the case should not really
surprise anyone: since 1999, manufactured homes have been built
and installed to standards tougher than any but the most recent
codes for site-built structures. As required by the federal code, all manufactured homes sold in Florida's coastal
counties
since 1994 are engineered to withstand sustained winds of 110
mph and 3-second gusts of 130 to 150 mph.
IN FACT, the State Bureau of Mobile Home and RV Construction
surveyed 11,800 manufactured homes among 77 parks in seven counties,
including hard-hit Charlotte and DeSoto. Of the manufactured homes
installed according to Rule 15-C—the most stringent tie-down
regulation in the country—the Bureau could not find a single
home that had been moved from its foundation. And RADCO, an independent
engineering firm, revealed that manufactured homes produced and
installed in accordance with the current Federal Standards successfully
withstood the effects of Hurricane Charley.
And in the end, responsible reporting did win out: after touring
the area, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was quoted by the media as saying,
"the new construction standards for manufactured homes are working."
Such news organizations as Fox News, CNN, and the Associated Press
were finally forced to admit that homes built to the new codes
didn't budge an inch in the 145 mph winds recorded at Punta Gorda.
Despite the public misperception and media misinformation, the
FACT is that modern manufactured homes, intelligently engineered
and well-built, are fully the equal of other building types when
it comes to safety and security.
|
