Researchers use hurricane-force winds to expose flaws and solutions for mobile homes
Scientists at Florida International University’s Wall of Wind blew a full-scale manufactured home with Category-5 winds, showing how current federal standards fall short and suggesting ways to make low-cost housing more disaster-resilient.
In spring 2026, structural engineers at Florida International University used the Wall of Wind facility to expose a full-scale manufactured home to 110-mph hurricane winds, capturing its collapse on high-speed video. The home’s screws sheared and it rolled over, revealing critical weaknesses in ground anchoring and roof-to-wall connections. Experiments on seven common installation systems showed several fall below modern wind-engineering standards and even the federal minimum.
By contrast, the most robust anchoring setups and a newly designed gutter-mounted wind-load reducer kept the roof intact. The team, working with FEMA, the University of Kansas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, argues that revising the outdated 1988 federal code and promoting stronger installation methods can deliver affordable, disaster-resilient housing for the 22 million Americans living in manufactured homes.
Why it matters
Modernizing building codes for manufactured homes can protect millions of low-income residents from wind-related disasters.
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