Getting out of a mobile home when it comes a Tornado.

[dhaynescchs]

Well I live in Alabama and we have bad weather several times of the year. Why is it some people will not get out of a mobile home when they here of a Tornado comming there way?  Its like they do not understand  that a mobile home is not a strong structure. I would really like to know what people think?  I live in a mobile home and my husband just cannot understand and he is a smart man or I thought he was when I married him.  Well what do you do??  I got out toniight and went to my moms and I am 53...lol   feed back please let me know what you think?

[Abrupt]

I agree with you that a mobile home offers absolutely no protection from a tornado.  Most newer houses don't either though and any without a basement or storm shelter should be treated with the same concerns as a mobile home.

I can speak from a man's perspective about why we have a tendency to make foolish decisions when danger is approaching.  It is because it is not in our general nature to run, even when we are faced with an opponent that we cannot fight.  I have that trait, ,and no I don't consider it courage -- I consider it genetic stupidity.

[kingreyam24]

I would think trying to outrun a tornado would give you a better chance of living than staying in a mobile home. Hell....laying in a ditch would probably even be better. When I lived in Wisconsin we saw a few tornadoes by us and I swear they went right for the mobile homes and left all the other ones alone.

[Cuppycake]

Not only is a mobile home not safe brick homes are not either. The best place is a basement. I lived most of my life in Mississippi where you really can't have a basement. I am glad that I can have one where I currently live !

[Cuppycake]

I would think trying to outrun a tornado would give you a better chance of living than staying in a mobile home. Hell....laying in a ditch would probably even be better. When I lived in Wisconsin we saw a few tornadoes by us and I swear they went right for the mobile homes and left all the other ones alone.

Actually laying in a ditch is a suggestion they make lol !

[workmama]

Remember the Joplin, MO tornado of last year? Well, I live by there and let me tell you first off that really a basement is not all that safe either. So you think if a basement is not 100% safe, how can a mobile home be?  Last year this man's basement in Joplin collasped when his house did. Know what they found in his basement? 2 cars, 1 truck and the roof of his house, so a basement is not fully secure and safe, although you have a more chance of surviving in a basement than above ground when a tornado is approaching your area. Just last week in Kansas, my mother in law, who lives in a mobile home and has a storm shelter in her front yard, was so freaked out with the 70 mph winds that blew off some  vinyl siding on her mobile home, that she didn't go to the storm shelter, she went into her shower! I couldn't believe it!!    I was like, "You have a storm shelter right in your front yard!" She was like, " I was so scared I couldn't move". Maybe your husband panicked when danger was approaching and wouldn't move or something. I have heard that some people have so much pride that they will not seek safety.
I don't know. But if I was you I would tell him the next time he doesn't move out of the mobile home, I'm gonna drag him out!
Good Luck! 

[springsgardner]

I agree with you that a mobile home offers absolutely no protection from a tornado.  Most newer houses don't either though and any without a basement or storm shelter should be treated with the same concerns as a mobile home.

I can speak from a man's perspective about why we have a tendency to make foolish decisions when danger is approaching.  It is because it is not in our general nature to run, even when we are faced with an opponent that we cannot fight.  I have that trait, ,and no I don't consider it courage -- I consider it genetic stupidity.

I had to laugh at the last part, and it's not because I'm a gal. It's because a guy said it.

Seriously, though, how do the smart people save themselves when they DO leave their mobile homes? Most mobile home parks don't have a shelter, do they? I can't believe people won't leave their mobile homes.

[tzs]

Tell them that if they are crazy enough to go up against mother nature in such a flimsy structure, then their brains are flimsy as well!! If they don't die in the storm, they are gonna wish they were dead when the aftermath hits them.

[healthfreedom]

I know the folks in Alabama must really be weary of the terrible storms and tornadoes by now. I trust that anyone living in a mobile home will heed the waring s to get out of the area before the bad weather strikes.

[floorlady]

Mobile homes are one of the worst, if not THE worst structures to be in during a tornado. They have no grounding or foundation and are easily picked up by the strong winds of a tornado. It really is a better idea to lay in a ditch outside of the trailer than inside it.

[marcee30]

they were just saying on the news today that they are trying to past legislative for better foundation for trailer homes, to me they should have been did that a long time ago

[vickysue]

You know that if you do all the work of really tying it down underneath and using cement weights it will hold up a lot better. If you can fix a good crawl space ( reinforced ) you have a better chance then staying inside the mobil.

[sweedly]

I lived in FL for 24 years. We saw the mess made by both hurricanes and tornados. After one storm there was a double-wide trailer flipped up and standing on one side with the rest sticking up into the sky. I had never seen that happen before. Usually they explode from the force of the wind. Those big powerful storms are so bad anymore that regular homes don't last to well either. They say get in a ditch, but you might get hit by stuff flying around. Someone told me find a big drainage pipe underground, like under a roadway, and your safer there than in your home. If it is a storm that gives you time to get to a shelter or to leave, take that option and save your life.