Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to offer evaluations of how various types of construction in Florida fare during hurricanes.
Speaking in Lake City, the Governor praised the surprising sturdiness of manufactured homes.
“I was surprised at how resilient some of the mobile homes were during Ian,” DeSantis said. “And there was obviously damage, don’t get me wrong, but you actually had some of the newer mobile homes that handled it decent for how strong that was.”
DeSantis said that for many in the path of the storm who aren’t in danger of a direct hit from the eyewall, mobile homes might be sufficient shelter for this event.
“Clearly, if you end up with tropical storm-force winds in Northeast Florida or even a Cat 1, there are some of the newer manufactured housing that would be able to likely withstand that,” DeSantis said. “How you do when you start getting into a major hurricane, that may be something different.”
The Governor added that some areas may be too risky for even the newer models, however, saying “there have been a number of directives issued in the Big Bend region for people in mobile homes to evacuate to shelters, friends’ houses, hotels and et cetera.”
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, DeSantis offered his takes on how some housing held up better than other types.
Last October in Marathon, DeSantis extolled how newer construction held up during Hurricane Ian, drawing comparisons to how buildings fared during Hurricane Michael in 2018.
“You’d see a building, you wouldn’t even know a storm hit. Then right next to it, there’d be something built in like 1981. It’s totally obliterated.”
“Actually, some of the stuff from the ’20s was built better,” DeSantis added. “Whatever happened in the ’70s and ’80s, I don’t know. Not the best building material. I don’t know what it was, but you definitely see that.”
He said something similar in Cape Coral last fall.
“I was talking to folks and they did make a good point,” DeSantis said. “You know, sometimes the stuff built in like the ’40s and ’50s did better than the stuff built in the ’70s and ’80s.”
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