Are mobile homes safe during severe weather?
Severe weather can happen any time of the year. It's important to know where to take shelter well before the storm starts bearing down on you.
Mobile homes have developed a reputation for being unsafe. Recent studies have shown that roughly 40% of tornado fatalities have occurred in mobile homes, while only 5-10% of the population lives in them. Why is that?
Gale Blomenkamp, assistant fire chief for the Boone County Fire Protection District and member of Missouri Task Force 1, has seen the damage up close. He has noticed the outer edges of damage paths seem to vary in what structures receive damage.
Mobile homes are a great, affordable way of living. However, it is strongly recommended that you anchor them to the foundation they're set on. However, tests have shown that those straps can fail when you reach wind speeds of 110 mph.
110 mph winds would cover EF-0 and EF-1 strength tornadoes. That would protect you from 342 out of 506 documented tornadoes on record in Mid-Missouri, dating back to the 1800s.
By the numbers
| County | EF-0 to EF-1 | EF-2 to EF-5 | Total | % Strong |
| Audrain | 21 | 14 | 35 | 40 |
| Benton | 18 | 6 | 24 | 25 |
| Boone | 22 | 21 | 43 | 49 |
| Callaway | 35 | 10 | 45 | 22 |
| Camden | 15 | 6 | 21 | 29 |
| Chariton | 8 | 6 | 14 | 43 |
| Cole | 8 | 7 | 15 | 47 |
| Cooper | 14 | 3 | 17 | 18 |
| Gasconade | 7 | 4 | 11 | 36 |
| Howard | 5 | 2 | 7 | 29 |
| Macon | 9 | 8 | 17 | 47 |
| Maries | 4 | 3 | 7 | 43 |
| Miller | 25 | 4 | 29 | 14 |
| Moniteau | 17 | 6 | 23 | 26 |
| Monroe | 19 | 8 | 27 | 30 |
| Montgomery | 16 | 11 | 27 | 41 |
| Morgan | 15 | 7 | 22 | 32 |
| Osage | 11 | 4 | 15 | 27 |
| Pettis | 27 | 11 | 38 | 29 |
| Phelps | 17 | 7 | 24 | 29 |
| Pulaski | 10 | 6 | 16 | 38 |
| Randolph | 6 | 2 | 8 | 25 |
| Saline | 13 | 8 | 21 | 38 |
It's important to know what to do when severe weather strikes. When in a Tornado Watch, ingredients are in place to produce a tornado. If you're in a mobile home, start to think about where you could go that is sturdier. A tornado warning is issued when one is thought to be on the ground, when one needs to seek shelter.
Other shelters to consider:
- A near-by friend or family member
- Community shelter
- Gas station up the road
