Posted on 07/01/2007 5:32:30 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
The House bill is modeled on law in Indiana, where tornado killed 20 in one home park:
WASHINGTON ; All new manufactured homes would have to come with a weather-alert radio under legislation introduced in the House.
"I was almost stunned that such a wonderful idea as this, that we hadn't done it before," said one sponsor, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.
Named for a 2-year-old boy killed in a tornado in Indiana in 2005, C.J.'s Home Protection Act would change the federal safety standards for manufactured homes and make the industry pay for the receivers and their installation before the homes are delivered.
"I say it makes the mobile home that much more valuable," Bachus said Thursday.
The legislation, introduced June 20 but not yet set for debate, was initiated by C.J. Martin's parents, who lost three family members in the 2005 storm that killed 25 people, 20 of them in the same mobile home park.
"It's important for me to do this. I believe in this," Kathryn Martin said. "If my family had that warning, they would've been here today. This just makes sense."
The bill is modeled after a similar state law recently approved in Indiana.
It was introduced by U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., who at the time was the sheriff who responded to the scene where C.J. died.
"It's a public safety issue, not a Big Brother issue, and it's not us trying to force things on people," Ellsworth said. "It's trying to give families ... that extra little chance, an extra few moments."
The receivers cost between $20 and $200, according to the National Weather Service, depending on the features, the manufacturer and the retailer.
A spokesman for the industry took issue with the bill singling out manufactured homes.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Any high school freshman can tell you who really pays for these radios: the buyer of the trailer.
I think tornadoes come with trailer-radar.....
After the novelty has worn off, they will be turned off (false alarms will take care of that) and like smoke detectors … batteries will never be replace in most, ever.
That's worth repeating. This makes some politician somewhere feel (and look) as if he's doing something important. But as someone who once lived in a trailer, I'll vouch that I could have afforded a $20 radio on my own.
Trailers are not "tornado magnets". They're just so flimsy that the incredibe low pressure and high winds of a tornado blow them up while nearby houses aren't hurt. That's a risk you take when you live in one.
Come to think of it, maybe we could mandate that they all come with On-Star.
Imagine the ad: "Hello, this is On-Star. I've just been informed that your home has been flipped over on its side, are you OK?"
"Oh -- yes. Actually a soda straw has been driven through my right bicep from the force of the storm."
Not to worry, Sir. I'll call emergency services for you. Would you like me to remain on the line?"
Yes, please.
[Sound of ambulance siren]
"They're here, thank you very much."
"Glad I could help. Actually, Sir, we show that your bill is two weeks overdue. There's a nasty cold front heading your way from Kansas, you might want to think about paying up. Thank you for calling On-Star."
Just a thought.
And most people living in trailers aren't there because of a long record of good decisions.
LOL. Brilliant. I love it.
Why can’t I have John Edwards’ home?
“My all time favorite “invention” is “stamps you don’t have to lick”. It only took 200 years!!”
Too late! Thanks to the internet and online billpay, the only stamps I use are the kind you don’t have to buy.
Love your narrative …
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.Someone's gonna lose a trailer.
Hell, just mandate that all trailers be built to withstand an F5 tornado. Problem solved!
God Bless Technology! Now, if they’d only invent a device that alerts my husband to the fact that the TP roll is EMPTY and he needs to change it before the door unlocks to let him out again!
Now THAT would make my home MUCH more valuable to me. :)
Too funny.
I grew up in Toledo Ohio and we had tornadoes. We also had old air raid sirens. Guess what they sounded when a tornado was spotted? We all knew what that siren meant. This makes a heckuva lot more sense than radios in mobile homes.
LOL! Laughing so had I’m finding it hard to type!!!!!!!!!
Please, give me a break!!!!! LOL!
Come on guys, my stomach is hurting … LOL!
My wife says ... Amen!
I know I'm crazy I want a politician that runs on a record of repealing un-needed laws.
I’ve read many profound arguments, profound statements and profound idiocy over the years here, your post has to be one of the best I’ve ever read. Thanks, I will be saving it for posterity.
Who is going to enforce turning on the radios?
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