FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Fear and frustration are mounting in some of Florida’s most vulnerable communities after a bill designed to make manufactured homes safer before storms died in the state Senate, leaving potentially thousands at risk.
WATCH BELOW: 'I can't afford to put another roof on,' Holly Gnip tells WPTV
It's an issue that hits home in the Spanish Lakes Country Club Community of Fort Pierce, where scars from Hurricane Milton still run deep.
Nearly a year ago, Milton’s spawned 46 tornadoes, one of which was an EF-3 that killed six people in the 55+ community.
Empty lots now trace where manufactured homes once stood, while concrete block houses next door still stand. It's a silent warning for people like Paula Richards of what could come with the next storm.
“Over 100 homes were lost here in this small community," said Richards. "We had one woman here that was in her home and ended up against a tree with her house on her who died. She was 66 years old. Everybody mourned for the people that were lost."
The impact for Richards, and her neighbors, is lasting, and still hurts almost a year after the storm. At her own manufactured home, safety feels borrowed, not owned. For every dark cloud brings the question: is this the one that takes it all?
"I suffer from PTSD with hurricane season, it’s just... it’s scary. It’s extremely scary," said Richards. “When we get a real bad storm here, and it lightnings and the wind's blowing, and I see, you know, possible tornadoes, I climb in my bed and give it to God, because where do you go in a mobile home?”
WATCH BELOW: At least 6 killed after tornado outbreak
The Oct. 9 EF-3 tornado that killed six of her neighbors in Spanish Lakes obliterated manufactured homes, just like her own.
“We lost a lot of really good people, a lot of homes,” Richards said, "and I think about all these people that lost their lives and all these mobile homes that maybe that wouldn't have happened to.”
It's a question we asked in our previous investigation: how safe are manufactured homes, and could October 9th's tragedy have been prevented?
Our previous reporting found decades of strengthened manufactured home safety rules — from federal standards enacted in 1976 to tougher ones in 1994 and 1999 — and damage reports showing those changes work.
But many homes in Spanish Lakes were built before those stronger rules, and Richards said she didn’t know her home wasn’t built to the latest standards.
“Had we not reported on this issue, do you think you would have known to even check?” Investigative Reporter Kate Hussey asked.
“No. I had no idea. Would have no idea that that's something that I had to check,” Richards replied.
When we asked whether anything in her home purchase paperwork indicated the home wasn’t up to HUD code, she said there was nothing.
"Someone needs to know that," said Jim Ayotte of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.
Ayotte said that confusion is common: Florida mobile and manufactured home titles list a vehicle identification number (VIN), make, model and year — but nothing explicit about whether a home meets the latest safety standards.
WPTV Investigates
Is your home ready for the next hurricane?
“People don’t have any perspective on that, so I really do think more education needs to be done," said Ayotte. "As an industry, my organization needs to do a better job. I think the homeowners organization needs to do a better job, as well.”
When Richards learned her home pre-dated the stronger rules, she sought retrofit estimates to add safety features, but had no idea what she was in for.
Estimates she showed us said she needed to replace insulation, restrap ducts, and tighten anchors and tie-downs, amid a multitude of other issues.
“This is what underneath my house looks like,” she said, showing Hussey the missing and damaged insulation. "When it rains, the water goes up here, because I have no vapor barrier under there at all, and if you don’t know any of this, then they hit you with it, ‘Well, if you want to be safe, you need to get it done as soon as possible.' Well, okay, are you going to pay for it?”
The lowest estimate she showed us came in at almost $7,000, but most were much higher.
“They want $10,000 to replace the vapor wall,” Richards said. “I've got quotes from another company that wanted $15,000. It's hard, and it's hard for people like us to afford this. You know, I can't work, my husband doesn't work, and we live check to check on our disability checks.”
State records we obtained in a public records request show she's likely not alone.
About 694,332 of Florida’s 1,049,215 registered mobile and manufactured homes— almost 70%— were built before the stronger 1994 rules, and 242,000 — about a quarter— predate any HUD regulation.
“I mean, you're looking at roughly, you know, half million people that are over 70 years old living in mobile manufactured homes, that may be vulnerable," said Ayotte.
Ayotte added a quarter of seniors in these homes spend more than 30% of their income on rent, while 11% spend more than half.
“So these people don't have the money to invest in their home," said Ayotte. "When something happens and they need to go and repair their home, they just don't have the money to do it."
We first discovered this issue back in January, and found a years-long waitlist for Florida’s free tie-down program, with at least 120 parks still waiting and limited funding to expand it.
We pressed state Rep. Toby Overdorf in February on whether funding could be moved to help.
"Is there a way to move around some funding, so we can expand the current $2.8 million budget for that program?” Hussey asked.
“I’d love to say yes,” Overdorf replied.
WATCH BELOW: WPTV finds fatal flaw in homes destroyed by Hurricane Milton tornadoes
A month later, lawmakers introduced House Bill 701, which aimed to give local officials more flexibility with housing assistance funds.
Right now, renters in apartments can get help; residents in manufactured home parks often cannot.
"Why? Why is this group being discriminated against?” Ayotte asked.
HB 701 would have opened $168 million in existing housing funds to manufactured homeowners for rent, retrofits and emergency repairs — without raising the state budget — and it passed the House unanimously, 115–0.
“No one objected. They all thought this was good public policy,” Ayotte said.
The bill, however, died in its final stop: the Senate Rules Committee.
“The Rules Committee Chair said, I don't think I like this legislation. I'm not going to hear it in my committee," Ayotte said. "So the problem is, when a bill is not heard in his last committee, the bill dies."
WPTV goes to Naples seeking answers
The Rules Committee chair is Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who represents Lee, Hendry and Collier counties. We repeatedly requested an interview by phone and email, then drove to her Naples office; a representative said she wasn’t available and referred us to her legislative aide.
Weeks later, we were told they “couldn’t accommodate an interview.” Despite proposing multiple alternate dates, we never heard back.
Within a mile of her office, we found at least five manufactured home parks with houses clearly in need of repair, so we spoke to dozens of residents living in those mobile and manufactured home parks to make sure their voices are heard.
“I don't have ANY [tie-downs]," said Naples resident, Holly Gnip, showing Hussey the underneath of her home.
Gnip’s home, just a few miles away from Passidomo’s office, was built in 1992, before the latest safety standards.
“That’s what scares me, because you get a strong wind and…” Gnip trailed off.
Gnip said for her, and most of her neighbors, retrofits are unaffordable, and out of reach.
"I would say the vast majority couldn't afford that," said Gnip. "I couldn’t afford that.”
Naples resident Doreen McCabe said her home must be elevated, but can't afford the cost and said the Elevate Florida program is full. She hoped this legislation would have helped fill the funding gap.
“Very disappointing that the people that are working weren't helped a little bit more,” McCabe said. “It's not feasible, and I really don't want to leave Naples.”
In Gnip’s case, tie-downs and a new roof are the minimum repairs she needs.
WATCH BELOW: There's a waiting list for the mobile home tie-down program
“I can't afford to put another roof on,” Gnip said.
"Do you feel safe?" Hussey asked her.
“Not really. No," replied Gnip, who said she worries storms are becoming more and more aggressive, more violent, and more frequent.
"A good three quarters of this community are — these are their only residences, their only homes," said Gnip. "If they lose their home, they don't have a home, they don't have anything.”
For both Gnip and McCabe, learning the bill was blocked felt like a gut punch.
"For the government not to take the responsibility as when they have the funding available to really help the people, is very heartbreaking,” McCabe said.
“I do have to question that," added Gnip. "Would [Passidomo] care, if she talked to the people? Why didn’t she then? You're supposed to be working for the people. That's hardly a representation of working for the people. So who are you working for?”
Ayotte called the measure “really really important legislation, and said the Florida Manufactured Housing Association plans to push the legislation again in 2026.
"[It] allows the ability to have 3 million senior citizens in the state of Florida have resources to help them make sure their home is safe," said Ayotte.
“It’s probably because she's never lived in a mobile home,” Richards said of Passidomo. “She's never gone through anything like this. She doesn't know what... what each and every one of us that live in a mobile home feel like during hurricane season.”
When asked what she would tell the lawmakers who blocked the bill and those who may reconsider it next session, Richards said:
“I would say to go out and talk to people that live in mobile homes. Go out and talk to people that their mobile homes have been destroyed during the storm.”
For her, it's not just about policy or politics. It's about survival.
“Our lives mater. Their lives matter. Lives in mobile homes matter. That's what I would say to them," said Richards.
After hearing Richard’s story, Ayotte said he is now questioning whether stricter disclosure rules are needed so buyers understand a manufactured home’s condition before purchase — something he said could appear in future legislation if the bill returns to Tallahassee.
What vulnerable homeowners can do now
Ayotte offered these recommendations:
- If you’re buying a manufactured home, hire an inspector who will check underneath it.
- If you already own one and aren’t sure it’s safe, use our website resources to learn how to check your home’s strength and get retrofitting estimates.
- If a storm is coming and you live in an older manufactured home, stay with friends or family in a concrete block house, or go to a shelter.