Hurricane survivability for underrepresented populations living in manufactured housing

As the 4^th largest and 2^nd fastest growing state in the U.S., Florida is home to one of the nation's largest concentrations of elderly, ethnic and low-income populations in one of its most geographically vulnerable regions. After-action reports from Hurricanes Charley, Jeanne, Frances and Ivan indicate that all manufactured housing units constructed after the 1994 Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standard survived intact, whereas units constructed before 1994 suffered damage ranging from severe to catastrophic. This paper provides manufactured housing damage assessment data from 60 of 67 Florida counties affected by the 2004 Hurricane season according to unit manufacture date, occupancy demographics and common modes of failure.