ST LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Twisted debris still hangs from trees in the Spanish Lakes Country Club community — nearly two years after an EF-3 tornado obliterated the Fort Pierce neighborhood, killing six people and exposing a deadly vulnerability: thousands of homes not built to federal safety standards.
WATCH: Florida extends housing aid to mobile home owners
For Paula Richards and Mike Powers, their manufactured home is now only a paradise seven months out of the year.
"From June to the end of November, we live in fear," Paula said.
The EF-3 tornado that touched down Oct. 9, 2024 was one of two that ripped through the Fort Pierce community hours ahead of Hurricane Milton.
"We lost 138 homes, six of our friends were killed," resident Barry Lamb said.
When the storm passed, the fear in Spanish Lakes didn't — because the tornado stirred up a chilling question: How safe are these homes, and could more people have survived?
"I try not to think about it," Richards said, holding back tears. "Because it scares me."
Decades of safety standards — and hundreds of thousands of homes that predate them
In WPTV's previous investigation, we found federal safety standards for manufactured homes were first established in 1976, with tougher rules following in 1994 and 1999.
Damage reports we found showed those changes worked: newer homes held up better.
But many of the homes destroyed in Spanish Lakes were built before those stronger rules. State records obtained through this investigation show nearly 700,000 of Florida's more than 1 million mobile and manufactured homes aren't built to withstand today's storms.
Nearly a quarter million were built before the federal government regulated these homes at all.
"We had no idea," Richards said. "And a lot of people don't that are just recently new to mobile homes or manufactured homes."
That was the case for dozens of Spanish Lakes residents who spoke to WPTV and said they only learned their homes failed to meet today's safety standards after seeing this reporting.
WPTV Investigates
Is your home ready for the next hurricane?
When asked how many of them — after buying their homes — realized they would have to make costly repairs to make them up to code, nearly every hand went up.
Estimates residents shared put those emergency fixes at $10,000 to $15,000.
"I don't have that in my pocket anywhere," one resident said.
When asked how many could afford a $10,000 to $15,000 out-of-pocket repair, no hands went up.
None of them said they felt safe going into another hurricane season.
"It's a nightmare," one resident said.
Florida's Manufactured Housing Association agreed help was needed.
"You're looking at roughly half a million people that are over 70 years old living in mobile and manufactured homes that may be vulnerable," said Jim Ayotte, the former head of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.
A stalled state program — and a bill that almost died
During our previous reporting, we uncovered a state program called the Mobile Home Tie Down program. Run by Gulf Coast State College, it's designed to add critical storm-resilient tie downs to mobile and manufactured home parks across the state for free.
However, when we reached out to the program, we were told 120 mobile home parks were still waiting to be serviced, creating a years-long wait amid limited funding.
"Is there a way to move around some funding so we can expand the current $2.8 million budget for that program?" Investigative Reporter Kate Hussey asked State Representative Toby Overdorf in February 2025.
"I'd love to say yes," said Overdorf.
Lawmakers later drafted House Bill 701, which would have allowed local governments to use existing housing funds for manufactured home repairs, retrofits, and rental assistance — without raising taxes.
WATCH: WPTV finds fatal flaw in homes destroyed by Hurricane Milton tornadoes
Before the bill, only apartment residents could access that help. Manufactured home owners couldn't.
"Why? Why is this group being discriminated against?" Ayotte said.
"It still upsets me to talk about it and think about things, how people could have been saved, how if we would have only known about this," Richards said. "Like everything else, mobile home lives matter too."
HB 701 passed the Florida House unanimously — but died in its final Senate committee after Sen. Kathleen Passidomo refused to bring it to the floor.
"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.
Hussey called, emailed, and drove to her Naples office twice asking for an interview. She never agreed to talk.
But within a mile of her office, Hussey talked to dozens of homeowners in at least five manufactured home parks clearly in need of home hardening.
"You're supposed to be working for the people. That's hardly a representation of working for the people," said Holly Gnip, a Naples manufactured homeowner.
"People with mobile home lives matter," Richards said.
When asked whether Florida was acting with real urgency or waiting for the next disaster to force change, Florida Representative Paula Stark was direct.
"Well, that's probably the case," Stark told us.
Bill revived — and signed into law
Lawmakers, after hearing those concerns, revived the bill the following session.
"I think the one thing I can tell you is the importance of home," said Rep. Kim Berfield during the House vote.
"We have overlooked a segment of our population who need our help," added Stark. "Mobile home residents."
The bill passed both the House and the Senate in March 2026.
WPTV Investigates
'Our lives matter': New push to protect mobile home residents from deadly storms
"This legislation helps preserve and protect those types of affordable housing, so I am so pleased that residents that are in need will be able to tap into some resources that will help them," Ayotte told WPTV.
For Paula and Mike Powers, the news brought relief — and emotion.
"It feels fantastic," Paula said.
"Awesome," Mike said.
"There's been help for apartments, there's been help for homes, but never for mobile homes. And now they passed it and it makes my heart happy to know that we now have help," Paula said.
"I can't believe it passed. I'm gonna cry and I don't cry," added Mike.
What comes next
Paula and others now want stronger disclosure laws so first-time manufactured home buyers know exactly what they're buying — and whether it meets federal safety standards — before it's too late.
The new law takes effect July 1, meaning funding for manufactured home owners will not be available until at least after that date.
The assistance will be part of State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) funds that residents can apply for to get help. St Lucie County officials say they're still determining how that process will work.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.