It’s 9:15 in the morning. The wind is roaring at 110 miles per hour (177 kph); the sound is deafening. Dust swirls through the air. We are watching a single-wide manufactured home rock back and forth, as it is pounded by turbulent wind.

Then, in an instant, the screws shear off and the entire unit tumbles backward, rolling two full revolutions before it stops.

In any other situation, this would be terrifying. But here, we are conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment at Florida International University’s Wall of Wind, a test facility that can reproduce wind speeds the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.

  • JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    5 hours ago

    My wife and I were window shopping for mobile homes recently and they are not affordable. The smallest, cheapest one was $49,999 and it was a one-bedroom 20x36 unit.

    In 2000 my parents bought their three-bedroom 2 bath 40×60 for like 6k less.

  • Amuro_eat@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    6 hours ago

    The poors will just have to deal with it until they figure it out, can’t be giving out real homes to them that are vastly safer, just manufactured death boxes.

      • erebion@news.erebion.eu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        18 minutes ago

        You mean than the people can afford? Just build apartment complexes and subsidise them, social housing. Helps fight poverty as well. Combine that supernarkets nearby and job opportunities that can be accessed on a short walk.