Wind tests at FIU show where manufactured homes fail in hurricane conditions
Engineers testing full-scale manufactured homes in hurricane-force winds at Florida International University found that robust anchoring held up while many common installations fall short, the researchers wrote in The Conversation.
Key facts
- FIU's Wall of Wind in Miami can reproduce wind speeds equal to a Category 5 hurricane. In spring 2026 the team tested three manufactured homes provided by FEMA on seven installation systems.
- The work is led by Elaina Sutley of the University of Kansas and Arindam Chowdhury of FIU.
- In one test at 110 mph, the screws sheared off and a single-wide home tumbled backward, rolling two full revolutions.
- Preliminary results show some installation practices allowed by states do not meet the federal code minimum, and many common systems do not meet modern wind engineering standards.
- The most robust installation systems performed well. The homes tested were built for FEMA at three times the strength the federal code requires.
- The researchers say the federal code for manufactured homes, whose wind standards date from 1988, needs a serious update.
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Read the original at FIU News (The Conversation) (opens in a new tab)
Source: We blasted mobile homes with hurricane-force winds to test how they fail — FIU News (The Conversation), October 21, 2026. Summary and commentary by RISE Community; read the full story at the source.
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