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With a price point oftentimes lower than conventional housing, mobile homes offer a tempting option for those on a budget. However, during a tornado, modular homes may end up costing more than what their owners bargained for.
One case and point is 63-year old Clifford Haney. He’s a Dallas County resident who has survived more than one ‘storm in life.
“I survived Vietnam, I survived cancer, and now I survived a tornado,” he said.
Choking back tears, it’s still hard for Clifford to talk about the moment the storm tore through on the evening of February 28th.
“I just said, ‘Oh God!’ And that trailer just went to rocking and it just flipped….I can remember there was stuff going by me and hitting me,” Clifford recalls.
He made it through with, but his neighbor wasn’t so lucky, and succumbed to her injuries.
Clifford’s mobile home was one of thirteen in a row near Buffalo tossed, mangled, and shredded beyond recognition. Unfortunately, it’s a sight that seems to becoming more common across the Ozarks.
“A tornado is going to heavily damage a frame home- or one built bricks. So, we know if it going to do that, it is going to be deadly in a mobile home,” explained Steve Runnels, meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield.
Experts say it takes an EF4 tornado packing 165-200 mph winds-to level a conventional house. But a twister with winds half of that strength can destroy a mobile home.
“They are almost like a vehicle. They are just very light compared to the strong winds of a tornado,” said Sarah Jones, KY3 Meteorologist.
