The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), in conjunction with the American Modern Insurance Group, a specialty insurer for manufactured homes and other specialty dwellings and vehicles, conducted a series of tests last year to evaluate the effect of high winds on attached structures to manufactured homes—carports, awnings, and porches.

After Hurricane Charley, IBHS had found that 80 percent of attached structures in surveyed areas suffered partial or total destruction. “Unfortunately, as they come apart, the attached structures can tear off parts of the home and become wind-borne debris, which is very dangerous both to the homes on which they are attached and to neighboring homes and other structures,” IBHS researchers note in a July 2014 report (“Attached Structures High Wind Research“) produced based on the tests on carports conducted by IBHS and American Modern. The report notes that the destruction also can expose the home to wind-driven rain and interior water damage “comparable in cost to or higher than the cost of repairing the structural damage.”

The purpose of the testing was to examine vulnerabilities of attached structures, and to explore effective mitigation measures to make them more wind-resistant, with the goal of keeping attached structures in place during high wind events.

Mitigation measures are summarized at the conclusion of the report. The report, along with photos and videos of the testing are available on the IBHS website, www.disastersafety.org.