CEDAR FALLS - It is raining, and the clouds are low and dark. Tornado sirens aren't blaring yet, but one resident of Country Terrace Mobile Home Park is worried.

If warnings do sound, she has seconds to decide: Does she wait out the storm in her mobile home, which she knows isn't safe from tornadoes? Or does she chance it and try to drive to a friend's house?

"We need a shelter out here real bad," she said. "We have no place to go. I have to risk my own life. … Management, they're not going to put a storm shelter out here. They'd have to raise the rents."

Fearful of eviction, the resident won't give her name, but she is adamant Country Terrace should take better care of its residents.

But Country Terrace is typical.

Out of 10 area mobile-home parks contacted by The Courier, only one - South View Estates in Waterloo - said it has a certified storm shelter, meeting requirements set by engineers.

Three park owners said they have a basement or other underground room available for residents during a storm. The rest either advise residents to go to a nearby shelter or have no evacuation plan.

There are no laws requiring mobile-home communities to provide storm shelters. Section 364.3 of the Iowa Code says mobile-home park owners can forgo building a shelter if they provide an evacuation plan and an alternate shelter is "within a reasonable distance."

It is hard to pin down what constitutes "reasonable," however. Some park owners say their only evacuation plan is to advise people to drive to safety.

"If they ask, we tell them if they have someone in town, it would be a good idea to go to a basement," said Dale Pabst, manager of Waverly Mobile Home Park.

Iowa is not alone. Only one state - Minnesota - and a handful of municipalities in the U.S. require mobile-home parks to construct certified shelters to protect residents.

Dangers

Most mobile-home park owners agree the EF5 tornado that demolished much of Parkersburg and parts of four counties May 25 encouraged more residents to seek out appropriate shelter in case of tornado warnings.

Tee Lukes, property manager of Eastgate Estates and Woodland Terrace in Waterloo, said a shelter is available for her residents at the Pinecrest building just across the street.

"Believe you me, they've been asking a lot (about Pinecrest) after Parkersburg," Lukes said.

A tornado half the strength of the Parkersburg twister could wreak havoc on a mobile-home community. Robert Henson, who works for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, wrote in a 2001 article that mobile homes were especially vulnerable during smaller tornadoes.

"About 25 percent (of tornadoes) are rated F2 or F3 (winds of 113 to 206 mph)," Henson wrote. "Winds at this strength can demolish mobile homes without destroying conventional homes."

What's more, deaths are far more common: Of 829 tornado fatalities in the U.S. between 1985 and 1999, 334 - more than 40 percent - occurred in mobile homes, according to the Storm Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mobile-home park owners see the benefits of having a place for residents to go during inclement weather. Kathy Giberson, owner of Dietrick Mobile Home Park in Cedar Falls, said around 50 of her 200 residents took shelter in the basement under her office during the last tornado warning a few weeks ago.

"Ever since the tornado in Parkersburg, it's made a difference," she said.

Shelter or no shelter?

Fearing residents will seek out unsuitable locations to wait out a storm, some owners remind residents there is no safe location inside their parks. A sign on the office in Country Terrace says, "Not a storm shelter." Manager Carol Lough said she had "no plans at this time" to build a shelter in the park.

Amber Krsek has friends in Country Terrace. She said it is scary when the sirens are blowing and she is in a mobile-home park.

"They should make that a shelter," Krsek said, referring to the office. "I'm kind of afraid. (My friends) don't have basements."

Some parks find it advantageous to advertise that they have a place for residents to go.

Sandie Johnson, community manager at Five Seasons Mobile Homes in Cedar Falls, said her 129 residents know they can congregate in an old pool room on the property - she adds it to the community newsletter each year. Other property managers also list evacuation and shelter plans in newsletters.

"I think a certified storm shelter cannot have windows. This has got windows at the top of the room," Johnson said. "But the bathroom (area) does not have windows in it."

Cedar Falls Mobile Home Village on Union Road has the phrase "storm shelter" in its Yellow Book listing. A person answering the phone at the office said the "shelter" was simply a basement, not a certified storm shelter.

Jamie Mansfield, a resident of Cedar Falls Mobile Home Village, thought it was the law that parks had to have storm shelters. He has never used his park's shelter.

Allyson Myers, a resident of Country Terrace, said she has the option to try and drive to her cousins' house in Gilbertville, or stay with relatives in Evansdale. The teenager wishes she could be safe in her own neighborhood, because sometimes there's no time.

"I don't want to leave," she said. "When the sirens are blowing, I can't go anywhere."

Safety

Mobile-home park owners say they want to keep residents safe. But building a certified shelter costs money - which translates to increased prices for residents. Some park owners balk at the idea of new government directives.

But there is little doubt shelters save lives. A 1998 tornado that ripped through Sunny Terrace in Le Center, Minn., demolished nearly half the homes but killed no one. A Minnesota Public Radio article credited a state-mandated cinder block shelter with keeping residents safe.

That hasn't translated into increased legislation elsewhere, however. That is largely due to lobbying by the manufactured-home industry and others who see laws requiring shelters in mobile-home parks to be unfair and costly.

Ray See owns Pine Ridge Mobile Home Court in Independence along with his wife. He said he has spoken with Iowa legislators in recent years to dissuade them from requiring shelters. Such a law, he said, would drive up lot rent prices.

"We sure in the heck don't need a law for that," he said. "People gotta have a mind of their own. They don't need a law for every damn thing we have to do."

States including Michigan have considered legislation in recent years, but proposed state and federal legislation never became law.

Ely, Iowa, is bucking the trend. In March of 2006, the city mandated all mobile-home parks must have architect- or engineer-approved storm shelters. Several other jurisdictions around the country, including Riley County, Kan., also mandate park owners construct shelters for residents.

The resident in Country Terrace says she hopes her park constructs a shelter soon. It is her "biggest concern." She has considered moving to a different park but can't afford the higher rents. Until then, she watches the sky, waiting.

"I don't know what else to do," she said. "They say you can't be in a mobile-home (during a storm), but we have no choice. We stay."

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1464 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.