John David and Abbie 9: Yet Another Baby Watch - Grace is Here!

[GuineaPigCourtship]

40 minutes ago, OMG said:

Are you upset? You sound upset.

Yes, considering she said she had friends and acquaintances die I would think she has reason to be upset.  I felt perfectly safe in my trailer except during tornado warnings and then I either ignored them because my pets weren't allowed in the tornado shelter or took everyone to the school with me.  It was made of concrete and extremely solid and since it was a vet school animals there were no big deal.  Trailers may be safer than they were, but they're no match for a tornado or a bad hurricane and anyone who thinks differently is foolish.

[grandmadugger]

18 hours ago, OMG said:

I think you mean "TINDER boxes". As in they WERE made of thin, 'matchbox' type wood that can be quite flammable. 

The very, very old 'trailers' were made quite cheaply, yes. However, this is not true with the ones built after 1992/Hurricane Andrew . Sadly, the "tinder box" stereotype seems to live on.

They may have been pre-1992/Hurricane Andrew.

Oh yes because that fucking typo made such a HUGE difference in the meaning of my post.  You obviously knew exactly what I meant.  I know I've never seen a trailer last through a fire no matter what year it was manufactured.  Call it a stereotype if you want but I was a fire fighter for 15 years in an area that has many trailers.  We saved traditionally built homes but never a trailer.  It was a good save if you had some wall left.  But you can Google so obviously you know more than those who are around trailers. 

[theotherelise]

I've lived in a variety of types of lodgings and depending on where you live, safety is different. Just here to say that tornado season is just the top of the bell curve of tornadoes. I had a friend whose home was destroyed in this storm a few years ago on New Years Eve: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_New_Year's_Eve_tornado_outbreak

We decided before buying that we'd either get a home with a basement or immediately put in a storm shelter if we couldn't get one in our market and with our budget. I wish there was more of a requirement for both long-term and short-term mobile home parks to have adequate storm shelter areas. People putting homes on their own property can make whatever choices they feel comfortable with. 

[RosyDaisy]

Actually, tornado season isn't over.  Tornadoes have struck today in  Louisiana and Mississippi.  So, people could die today.  There are tornado watches and warnings are in effect.  There will probably be more throughout the afternoon and evening.

Yes, I'm talking about SkyWarn.  The classes are through the NWS and free to the public.  I attend classes every year as refreshers.

I am more upset at mobile home manufacturers/sellers.  They are spreading false information to increase their profits.  People are hurt and killed because of it.  That's unconscionable.

When I was little girl, my family lived in a trailer for a few years.  Trailers are very common where I live.  So, I make no judgement about people who live in trailers.

Now, time for me to check my basement because bad weather may be coming my way.  My neighbors who who live in a trailer may join me me.

[GutenbergGirl]

I have lived thru an F3 tornado -- a major one, with deaths in the double digits.  A co-worker lost her 6 year old daughter. 

Every person who died, except one, was in a mobile home when the tornado hit.  The other death was storm related, but not tornado related. 

So, yeah.  A 100% mobile home related death rate makes me think being inside one during a tornado isn't wise.  I was inside a sturdy building, and still scared to death.  I saw my co-worker when she saw a policeman and local pastor walk into our facility, many hours after the storm had passed.  I watched her fall to the ground, screaming, "Oh, God, no!  No, no, no!! Not this, no!" 

So, please, forgive me, OMG, if I don't buy your "statistics".  (I have no idea how to tag someone on here.... the OMG I am referring to is the poster, not the phrase.) 

[AliceInFundyland]

Pretty sure by now OMG warrants the

[mango_fandango]

@GutenbergGirl, tagging is done by pressing the @ sign and then continuing to type a user’s name. Select the name when it pops up. You have to click on the name, or it doesn’t work. 

[OMG]

On 12/15/2019 at 8:57 PM, grandmadugger said:

Oh yes because that fucking typo made such a HUGE difference in the meaning of my post. 

I've learned from reading here that "words have meanings". no?

Also, you totally sound upset now, using the 'f' word and everything *clutches pearls*. Take a breath, grandma.

 

On 12/15/2019 at 8:57 PM, grandmadugger said:

I was a fire fighter for 15 years in an area that has many trailers.  We saved traditionally built homes but never a trailer. 

Do you have one of those totally cool CB/ham radios? What's your handle?

Edited December 17, 2019 by OMG
more thoughts

[LacyMay]

39 minutes ago, OMG said:

I've learned from reading here that "words have meanings". no?

Also, you totally sound upset now, using the 'f' word and everything *clutches pearls*. Take a breath, grandma.

What you have apparently failed to learn is that as a community FJ extends a fair bit of grace and leniency to minor typos and spelling errors, people typing on phones, people who may not speak English as a first language etc are all perfectly plausible reasons for harmless typos. 

Unfortunately I don't think either of those can account for your rudeness to other posters. 

[RosyDaisy]

Well, bad weather did come my way, and people did die.  Those people lived in trailers.  They were good people.

Edited December 17, 2019 by RosyDaisy

[Giraffe]

This mobile home talk has been helpful for me. I’m going to be moving to tornado alley eventually and mobile homes have looked like my best choice. I will not be doing that now!

[squiddysquid]

People from Florida told me they'd rather have trailers cause they are cheaper to replace after a hurricane and/or flooding. Getting insurance is insanely expensive or nearly impossible, so better to evacuate early and get a new 20.000$ home.

Edited December 17, 2019 by squiddysquid

[just_ordinary]

1 hour ago, squiddysquid said:

People from Florida told me they'd rather have trailers cause they are cheaper to replace after a hurricane and/or flooding. Getting insurance is insanely expensive or nearly impossible, so better to evacuate early and get a new 20.000$ home.

It might be cheaper to replace the trailer but how do people deal with loosing and replacing all the stuff that’s in it? Clothes, books, electronics, paperwork (which is a pain in the ass to replace), hobby/work supplies, toys, furniture, cutlery and table wear, pots and pans.... that’s seems extremely expensive (and kind of wasteful if you think perfectly fine things have to be replaced every couple of years).

I get why an insurance company would have extremely high rates in such areas but would that add up to over 20.000 say every ten years? (Have obviously no idea what is the statistically average of years till you are hit in a certain area). 

I would definitely start looking for jobs away from an area where a disaster like this is likely to happen. That would be too much of a sword of Damocles to relax for me.

[cloisteredchild]

I don’t look down on anyone who lives in a trailer. When I retire, if I end up out west, I plan on buying one myself. That said, I hope everyone who does live in one where there is bad weather has a plan. Whether that is a neighbours  house or a storm shelter. 

[Nikedagain?]

14 hours ago, OMG said:

Also, you totally sound upset now, using the 'f' word and everything *clutches pearls*. Take a breath, grandma.

What exactly is your deal? 

[nvmbr02]

I don't look down on people who live in mobile homes. They can be an affordable home for many people. However, they just don't do as well severe weather and they don't do as well in fires. If you take as many precautions as you can for fire prevention and have a weather plan then it could be a solid option. My uncle live in a mobile home park for a few years. My grandmother needed assistance and it was an affordable way for him to live near her but still give each other privacy. We were in the Bay Area of California though, so severe weather isn't very common.

When we lived in Guam many people lived in wood and tin structure. These are basically a few 2x4s, plywood and a tin roof. They frequently collapse in typhoons or tropical storms. They also don't have running water or electricity so people use candles at night. When we first moved to the island there was a fire that went through one home when a candle was knocked over at night and killed 7 children in a family of 11.  The is a big push to eliminate the wood and tin homes and to get people into shipping container homes and other alternative housing that is a safer alternative to what they currently have.

My point is many people live in less than ideal circumstances. All you can do is to educate yourself on possible hazards and do what you can to make your situation safER.

[viii]

Holy shit, @OMG. You're a dick. 

[nelliebelle1197]

On 12/15/2019 at 10:57 PM, grandmadugger said:

Oh yes because that fucking typo made such a HUGE difference in the meaning of my post.  You obviously knew exactly what I meant.  I know I've never seen a trailer last through a fire no matter what year it was manufactured.  Call it a stereotype if you want but I was a fire fighter for 15 years in an area that has many trailers.  We saved traditionally built homes but never a trailer.  It was a good save if you had some wall left.  But you can Google so obviously you know more than those who are around trailers. 

That was SUCH a dickhead move, wasn't it? I am sorry that happened.

Edited December 17, 2019 by nelliebelle1197

[JesSky03]

From what I've read and experienced personally, yes "trailers" burn faster and are more likely to be a total loss in a fire BUT they are not more prone to fires than traditional site built home. I live in an area with many mobile home parks and I can only recall two actual fires off the top of my head in the 28 years I've lived here. One was right down the road from our house when I was a kid and it was a sad situation where an ex decided to burn down his wife's house and then shot himself. The other was just a couple years ago when an elderly man left a space heater on too close to some curtains. I can't recall any other major fires like that though for mobile homes in the area but this past year have seen several brick and mortar houses burn down. Yes in the case of traditional homes if the fire is caught early they can be fixed up and rebuilt and that would be very difficult with a mobile home, but simply living in a mobile home doesn't increase your risk of having a fire. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by JesSky03

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

1 hour ago, viii said:

Holy shit, @OMG. You're a dick troll. Now shoo, back under your bridge.

FTFY

[HerNameIsBuffy]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:43 AM, OMG said:

I think you mean "TINDER boxes". As in they WERE made of thin, 'matchbox' type wood that can be quite flammable. 

The very, very old 'trailers' were made quite cheaply, yes. However, this is not true with the ones built after 1992/Hurricane Andrew . Sadly, the "tinder box" stereotype seems to live on.

They may have been pre-1992/Hurricane Andrew.

However, from this website: https://mobilehomeliving.org/5-mobile-home-myths-busted/

"...after the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 the building codes developed afterward for newer mobile home ensures that construction is absolutely built strongly enough to withstand a “run of the mill wind storm”.

In areas prone to hurricane-force winds (known as Wind Zones II and III, according to HUD’s new Basic Wind Zone Map) the wind safety standards require that manufactured homes be resistant to winds up to 100 miles-per-hour in Wind Zone II and 110 miles-per-hour in Wind Zone III. In both of these zones, the standard for manufactured homes is now more stringent than the current regional and national building codes for site-built homes located in these wind zones."

and

from this website: https://www.mobilehomesell.com/are-manufactured-homes-safe/

"according to The Manufactured Housing Institute’s president and CEO, Richard Jennison, “The building materials in today’s manufactured home are the same as those used in site-built homes.” Furthermore, he says that the standards of site-built homes have a possibly lower standard than manufactured homes. He adds, “the standards for manufactured housing are subject to robust compliance and quality assurance regulations, sometimes more stringent than those for traditional site-built homes.”

I think 'trailers' or mobile homes are associated with poverty and thus judged harshly. There seems to be more and more enclaves of newly-built (and, imo, quite modern) mobile homes especially in retirement areas. Arizona, for example is full of them.

TL;DR - mobile homes have come a long way, baby. Time to put the derogatory stereotypes to bed. 

*Edited to add* - I do not own one or live in one but I'd certainly consider one if the opportunity arose. 

 

 

Those are hardly neutral sources.  

That's like quoting Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer to for an unbiased opinion of whether the prosperity gospel is harmful.

[Kelsey]

Floridian here. Most mobile homes in Florida are insured through Citizens Insurance which is a goverment run insurance. Premiums would not be over 20k....maybe over the course of 10 years if you live in a risky area. Also, most trailers are much more than 20k.

I have seen a trailer survive a house fire and be rebuilt on the inside. The outside structure was still intact. The entire inside not so much. Open areas were burnt. Rooms with closed doors only had smoke damage.

I have no experience with tornadoes and would probably not choose one if living in Tornado alley (especially if the park didn't have a shelter).

I don't live in a trailer. Many of them are beautiful. Tons of retirees in Florida choose them and many of them are not poor.

 

[grandmadugger]

1 hour ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

That was SUCH a dickhead move, wasn't it? I am sorry that happened.

Nelliebelle I puffy heart you.  After 15 years in a male dominated field I've had worse thrown at me.  It does make me feel better to see the user is just a troll.  That's so much easier to deal with.

[AliceInFundyland]

1 hour ago, grandmadugger said:

Nelliebelle I puffy heart you.  After 15 years in a male dominated field I've had worse thrown at me.  It does make me feel better to see the user is just a troll.  That's so much easier to deal with.

I had a trollish user compare me to Steven Anderson in the throes of a very very stupid argument, if it makes you feel any better. That was legitimately the worst moment I've had here.

You're good people. ❤️

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

I saw my friends mobile home burn, it was gone in 15 minutes, intense heat and toxic smoke. She made her way out a window just in time. Cat died.  It was a god awful experience.  Fire Dept said it was electrical.  She stayed with me for a few months waiting for the insurance to pay, which they did.