Performance of manufactured housing in Louisiana during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

12-1-2009

Abstract

The August and September 2005 landfalls of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused heavy property damage in coastal Louisiana. Following the landfall of these hurricanes a systematic survey assessing the performance of manufactured housing in the areas that were affected by winds from these hurricanes was undertaken. Goals were to assess the wind damage resisting performance of newer manufactured homes, as well as older manufactured housing and site built homes for comparison. A research team was sent to perform damage documentation surveys during October of 2005. The research team for each day of field work consisted of 2 to 3 researchers from the LSU Hurricane Center and an inspector from the Louisiana Manufactured Housing Commission. Surveys were conducted in areas affected by Hurricane Rita located in or near Vinton, Toomey, Sulphur, Hackberry and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The surveys of areas affected by Hurricane Katrina were conducted in or near Belle Chasse, Port Fourchon and Grand Isle, Louisiana. Results indicate that manufactured housing built and installed after implementation of the 1994 HUD rule on wind standards performed well structurally and in regard to anchorage. Wind speeds in the study area did not reach design speeds for the post-1994 HUD wind zone rated units in either storm and few units that were poorly anchored or lacking any anchorage suffered significant damage related to anchorage failure. The frame structure of the newer units was not visibly damaged in any case. Cladding damage was more common on the post-1994 units than in any of the other age groups. This is due to the building practices used in the newer units, the walls and roof are first sheathed, usually with plywood or OSB then covered with vinyl siding for walls and asphalt shingles on the roof, while older models typically used sheet metal siding and roofing. Vinyl siding and roof shingles on the post 1994 HUD rule manufactured units had a higher occurrence of loss when compared to the loss of metal siding and roofing on the older housing.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

11th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering

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