Mobile Home Residents and Hurricane Vulnerability in South Florida: Research Gaps and Challenges

Abstract

In South Florida there are several social and logistical challenges to surveying and advocating for mobile home residents regarding vulnerability to natural hazards such as sea level rise and hurricanes. These residents have consequently been understudied despite historically exhibiting higher vulnerability and lower resilience. This exploratory study uses a social-ecological framework to highlight individual-, community-, and institutional-level challenges and research gaps encountered when working with mobile home residents. These observations represent a longer-term opportunity to further refine our understanding of natural hazard vulnerability, build increased resilience among vulnerable populations, and improve health equity in South Florida and beyond.

Personal, Not Real: Manufactured Housing Insecurity, Real Property, and the Law

“…This is in part an outcome of the location of homes in hazardous areas. Approximately 33% of all MH in South Florida was in the 100-year floodplain, and 27% was in the storm surge zone (Prasad & Stoler 2016). Across the Hurricane Harvey-impacted Houston metro region, Census block groups with MHCs have, on average, greater amounts of land in the 100-year floodplain compared to block groups with no MHCs (Sullivan et al 2022).…”

Examining the spatial and temporal relationship between social vulnerability and stay-at-home behaviors in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…However, crowding within housing units is an indicator of low-income communities, which would reduce the social distancing behaviors similarly to what we have discussed previously ( Poole, Escudero, Gostin, Leblang, & Talbot, 2020 ), especially considering that housing inequality has been exacerbated during COVID-19 ( Zhai & Peng, 2020 ). Mobile homes are commonly found outside of urban areas with limited accessibility to interstate highways or public transit systems ( Kusenbach, Simms, & Tobin, 2010 ; Prasad & Stoler, 2016 ). In addition to that people who live in mobile homes are more likely to be low-income, their remote location also increases their possibility of going outside for jobs and essential supplies.…”