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Co-author byPeter SeltenrightCo-Founder& COO (PrefabPads LLC)

Gould & Ratner presents the next installment of ourConstruction Interview Series. As a continued effort to keep ourclients informed of new building techniques and processes, we willcontinue to periodically sit down with leaders at some of the mostinfluential companies in the construction industry to discuss theirinsights on relevant and pressing topics of interest in theindustry.

Patrick Johnson, a partner in the firm's ConstructionPractice, recently discussed the creation of PrefabPads as well asnew design methodologies in the construction industry focusing onpre-fabricated and modular construction with Peter Seltenright,Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PrefabPads LLC.

Founded in 2022, PrefabPads, is focused on manufacturing anddistributing innovative prefabricated homes to the United Statesunder the My Cabin brand. Although the designs are purposely smallin footprint they provide the feel of an actual home rather thanthat of a traditional tiny home or recreational vehicle. The focusis to provide an affordable living space built with high-endmaterials and a structure that will last.

Pat: Peter, thank you for sitting down with meto discuss this interesting topic and your new endeavor. Could youtell me a little more about this new journey of yours withPrefabPads? What interested you in the prefabricated and modularconstruction sector?

Peter: Pat, thank you so much for having me.I'm always excited to chat about this new business and theproduct we're building. The long answer is that I come from afamily in construction and design of high end homes in northernMichigan so building is kind of in my blood. I had been working intech for years but I had been following the trends in prefab andmodular building, especially when it comes to quality design insmaller structures.

When Covid hit I could see the shift to remote living, morepeople looking to escape into nature, but also the need forhousing. I first explored the idea of a boutique nature resort withmy co-founder, Hemang, where we would place 8-10 very cool prefabcabins on a property for short term rental. We just couldn'tfind the property we wanted in the location we had in mind and ourfavorite designs seemed to be stuck in Europe. We then got prettylucky and found this brand, My Cabin, in a Dwell article and Iimmediately reached out to the founder. He put his trust in us tobring the My Cabin brand to North America and here we are now in30,000 sq ft of factory space in Waukegan, IL building out the MyCabin product.

Pat: Regarding the units themselves that youare currently distributing, what is unique about them and who doyou foresee as being your target customer or user? Since these arelargely prefabricated, is there any ability to customize from thefactory?

Peter: Well we were a bit naive and thought wecould just import the materials from Europe and build from theirplans right away. We quickly learned that we needed to go into anextensive engineering process to bring the units to US code. Wethen made a decision to ensure these are top of the line cabinsstructurally and also with materials and finishes. It's notthat in Europe they're building a substandard product, but weknew for the US market that high-end materials that last would beappreciated and the increased price of the units would be worthit.

While these units may have a rather traditional shape andlayout, what's really unique is that we've convertedthese to what we feel is the most structurally sound and high-endcabin on the market for this price point. Our cabins can meet130mph wind loads and comply with seismic requirements, andinsulation levels for every state in the country. It's alsojust a beautiful Scandinavian design with tons of natural light andspace. While our competition focuses on compliance with RVregulations or ease of shipment capabilities which restricts layoutconfigurations, our prefabricated design is much wider making youfeel like you're in a real home.

Our target customers range quite a bit. On one end you havesomeone trying to take advantage of Additional Dwelling Unit(ADU) regulations and placing a unit in theirbackyard for an extra bedroom or an office, we also have customerslooking for a few units for a remote property as a vacation homeand/or a rental property, and then we have conversations withdevelopers looking to build out their resort property. We'reable to cater to all of it due to our pre-fabricated designprocess.

In terms of customization, it's limited but that'sby design in a manufacturing environment like this. The dimensionsof the unit can't change as we don't want to get intoengineering changes for all projects but we can work with customerson finishes or non-load bearing items. Right now, we have twofinishes for the exterior siding color and can offer differentflooring finishes, and cabinet colors. Our design also affords usthe ability to remove kitchens and bathrooms if customers preferblank spaces and even small customizations with windows.

Pat: I have talked previously about thebenefits of using prefabricated and modular construction methodsbut I am curious as to what your thoughts are on the topic?

Peter: There are plenty of advantages to thismethod. The obvious ones are speed and price. We can build theseunits in a month and have them to you in two months (if materialsare arriving on time). Our fabrication process also allows us totake advantage of bulk ordering materials to bring price down andthe pre-fabrication process also reduces material waste in theprocess. Additionally, a key advantage is a controlled buildingenvironment. With everything happening indoors, we're able toensure that no moisture gets into the structure before it'sclosed up and finished and always be building year round. So whilewe're building the cabin, the customer can be installingtheir foundation in a parallel path, which really speeds thingsup.

Overall the pre-fabrication process is environmentally friendlyand allows us to produce structures in a fraction of the time andat lower prices than a traditional stick-built home. But Iwon't say that it's all advantages. In order to makethis work we have to limit customization and we have to makechoices on the units to meet code in nearly all states. But at thesame time, the repetition of building these over and over makes usexperts on what we do compared to stick-built that essentiallyreinvents the wheel and brings in new processes and methods foreach project.

Pat: What are your thoughts on trends in thisindustry and do you think these trends will continue in the future?From your perspective, has the pandemic impacted your business atall?

Peter: It's certainly a hot industryright now and it will continue to grow as traditional builders arebacked up, building costs are up, and there's a housingshortage. We are seeing a ton of competitors popping up all overthe world and more and more in the US but you tend to see a lot ofconcepts and renderings, not an actual project built at a highscale. This industry certainly addresses the housing shortage andthe difficulties of getting things built right now but we stillhave issues with outdated zoning ordinances. ADUs are still notallowed across the country, many places have restrictive minimumsquare footage rules or even restrictions on the number ofdwellings on a property.

I think these restrictions are holding the industry back alittle bit ,but I am hopeful with all the interest this sector isseeing that these outdated codes can be updated to conform to thisnew type of construction.

Pat: Do you see any specific regions/statesutilizing these types of units more than others? Why do you thinkthis may be?

Peter: It's certainly clear thatCalifornia and the West Coast seem to be the early adopters, ingeneral they have less regulations against smaller square footageand more acceptance of ADUs. It also doesn't hurt that a lotmore of that population really wants sustainable products both inhow they're built and how they operate on the land. Most ofthe companies in our industry tend to be out there addressing thatdemand. But this will spread across the country and demand isreally taking off in the East in places like upstate New York andNorth Carolina, which is exciting for us being in a location thatcan more easily address those customers.

Pat: With the trends of people leaving citiesand things like glamping taking off, are you seeing demand fromdevelopers and hoteliers?

Peter: Yes, there's a major trend towardsunique escapes and nature focused retreats. I think we'reseeing the old campgrounds and cabin properties being updated withbetter rental units and concepts that connect people with nature inunique ways. We're seeing a lot of glamping ideas with safaritents or RV concepts and I think that now that we'reproducing unique cabins with lots of glass and exposure with thefeel of an actual stick built home rather than that of a trend,I'm certain we'll see more of a shift towardsstructures like ours.

Pat: Have you seen any pushback from anytrades/municipalities on the use of prefabricated/modularconstruction techniques?

Peter: Yes, as I previously had mentionedthere's an unfortunate misunderstanding of the product and alack of willingness to go against their outdated zoning ordinances.There's also a common confusion between modular andmanufactured homes. We build modular homes to US building code withpermanent foundations. While they're small, these are realhigh-end homes. Manufactured homes are mobile homes but it'sa confusing term as modular homes are built in a manufacturingfacility.

Pat: Many construction industry professionalsare experiencing material shortages and delays with constructiondue to a myriad of issues such as labor constraints and supplychain bottlenecks. Has your business been affected by any of theseissues from? What steps have you taken to minimize theseimpacts?

Peter: It has certainly made things moredifficult but I have been pleasantly surprised with theavailability of items that we need. Although that doesn'tcount windows and doors, the costs and lead times for those areincredibly frustrating given what has been happening in theconstruction industry. But outside of that, we have luckily had noissues with lumber, siding, flooring, cabinetry, etc.

Our method is to prefabricate the framing of the units but placelarge orders for finish materials as orders come in and those leadtimes work with our schedules. The one exception is the need topre-order windows and doors and to take on that cost upfront.

Pat: Materials selection has becomeincreasingly important and we have seen unique and specialtymaterials being specified on recent projects. Have you seen yourclients making similar requests with their designs and how doesthis impact the prefabricated nature of your product?

Peter: Customers seem educated about materialsand sort of test us on what we use. Fortunately, our choices ofhigh-end materials has made this almost a non-issue. We alreadybring in a design with European style tilt and turn windows anddoors and really high end wood paneling inside and out. Wecertainly listen to the requests of our customers and if we see acommon trend, we try to address that with changes to the product webuild moving forward. When we first started, we had to take a lotof feedback on the design from Europe and make it more US-friendly.For example, we couldn't have a tiny bathroom sink or nowashing machine for our design. Those kinds of things requiredthought and edits to the flow of the units. Fortunately, we seem tobe meeting the requests for specialty materials.

Pat: We have clients with projects all acrossthe United States. Is this sort of design methodology moreapplicable to any specific geographical region, project site, orclimate zone in your opinion?

Peter: Our designs seem widely accepted acrossall parts of the country and we have tried to create a product thatcan be installed almost anywhere. I would say that any of the hotreal estate markets seem to have multi year waits for builders sonaturally we're a great option as a quick solution. Prefabbuilding is going to succeed in those areas where wait times andcosts have gone through the roof. Also, anyone looking for an addon to their main residence would really benefit from ourmethodology. No one wants a construction site on their property fora full year just to build a few hundred square feet. Why not put inan easy foundation and have a modular unit delivered in a matter ofmonths.

On the flip side, it's only fair to note that we do havesome limitations. A prefab builder has a big challenge in creatinga product for all 50 states when addressing extreme areas likeFlorida coastal zones that require 150-180 mph wind loads,it's really not possible to expect to use our same productunless we create a completely new product for those areas. Rightnow, we don't want to do that because it would either besomething with a less desirable design or requires a design thatsignificantly increases cost while reducing aesthetic appeal. Forour design, climate zones are easier to handle and we decided toaddress that with extreme insulation that also provides betterenergy efficiency for all customers.

Pat: Although these units are largelyprefabricated off site, there is likely some additional work to becompleted prior to final completion. What additional work typicallyneeds to be completed on site before these units are ready fortheir intended use? What benefits does this provide over a moretraditional ground up construction type project of a similarfootprint?

Peter: I really do wish we had the operation tobe our customer's contractor across the country and toprovide an all-in-one service but that's just not a reality.Our customers need to work with a GC to install the pier foundationwe have designed and route their electric, water, and sewage to thecorrect locations per our design and their site layout. The greatthing about this is that they can be doing that work whilewe're building their units instead of waiting to do thatbefore construction can begin. Beyond site prep, thecustomer's GC will also need to coordinate the installationonce the truck arrives with the unit(s). This might seem dauntingbut it's really just a crane that lifts the completed unitoff the truck and it places it on the foundation where the finalconnections are made. Installation happens in a day and thenit's move-in ready.

Of course other additional work could be customizationscustomers decide to make after the unit is installed on theexterior or interior. That could be building connections betweenunits, which is yet another benefit of utilizing our pre-fabricateddesign process, or installing their own kitchen design.That's their choice.

Pat: Are there any other issues you thinkshould be considered when contemplating using a prefabricated ormodular construction type structure as opposed to a moretraditional ground up construction?

Peter: Customers need to be comfortable withminimal customization, that's the obvious drawback. Anotherkey item that could be challenging is financing. At this squarefootage it can be challenging to find a bank that will be open to ahome loan due to lack of comps. They also seem to struggle tounderstand modular vs manufactured and how exactly our constructionprocess works, which might prevent them from offering a trueconstruction loan.

Pat: Finally, before we wrap up, I wanted totouch briefly on green design. It has become quitecommon in my experience for a design to incorporate certain greencomponents, whether that be through solar panels, reflective windowpanels, innovative heating and cooling systems. I was curious whatyour thoughts were on green design. Since your unitsare largely prefabricated, do they have any greendesign aspects? Is there any ability to modify during theprefabrication process to make the unit moregreen?

Peter: We kind of ended up with agreen design without even really focusing on it. Ourhigh insulation levels, very efficient windows, energy recoveryventilation in the units and reduced building waste has all givenus a product that I would consider sustainable and highlyefficient. We're doing some initial research on LEEDcertification and I don't think we're far off. Over thenext year we also plan to address off-grid installation ideas.Solar is a no-brainer and rather simple to add and plug into ourproduct. Other items like rain water collection, gray watersystems, composting toilets, etc. are all things we'd like tobe knowledgeable on for our products. My goal is to have cleardirection on how that will work with our product line so thatcustomers know their options and what they can do.

Pat: Peter, thank you again for sharing yourknowledge and experience, especially as it relates to theprefabricated and modular construction industry. I believe thatdemand for these types of structures will only increase in thefuture and think it is important to stay abreast of innovative waysto meet this demand. Best of luck with this new endeavor andperhaps we can speak again soon to see how things are progressingin the industry.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Innovations In The Pre-Fabricated And Modular Construction Sector - Real Estate - United States - Mondaq

When Rodger Mitchells wife started yelling something about flames rushing toward their modular home in Barrett Junction, the 80-year-old remained calm. Small brushfires are commonplace in the community east of Jamul.

However, the gravity of the situation set in when Mitchell stepped outside into whipping winds and triple-digit heat.

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The fire was rolling, creating its own atmosphere, he said a week later, looking over three obliterated metal storage containers on his property. It came through that canyon, and it wasnt waiting for nobody.

Rodger Mitchell stands next to his new propane tank he recently had installed after the original was destroyed in the Border 32 fire.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Border 32 fire which started Aug. 31, destroying 19 homes and critically injuring at least two people was just one of many conflagrations across California ignited during a recent record-breaking heat wave.

Scientists warn that humanitys ever-increasing carbon footprint is largely to blame, driving up temperatures especially in the late summer and early fall when dry conditions and high winds can turn a small spark into a deadly fire.

The best estimate right now is that global warming has approximately doubled the annual burned area in the West, said David Romps, professor of climate physics at UC Berkeleys Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

Whats terrifying to me is the trajectory were on, he added. Were not tamping down the cause of global warming. Were burning fossil fuels at an ever increasing rate.

The situation has recently taken a surprising toll on emergency crews across the state. At least 14 firefighters in San Diego County, for example, have suffered heat-related illnesses over the last week and a half, including during the Border 32, Sandia, and Caesar fires.

The high number of firefighter injuries on these incidents is not a common or typical occurrence, said Capt. Thomas Shoots, spokesperson for Cal Fire in San Diego. The long duration heat wave coupled with multiple fires in San Diego County added to the already challenging firefighting conditions.

A firefighting helicopter drops water onto a brush fire that threatend homes near Barrett Lake Mobile Home Park.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

When firefighter Joshua Kremensky arrived at the Mitchells home that Wednesday afternoon it was 105 degrees. Winds reportedly blowing up to 27 mph had fanned flames through a dry creek bed filled with thick brush and cottonwood trees surrounding the structure.

When stress is at that level, Im not thinking too much about the heat, said the 30-year-old. Im hyper-focused on the fire and the structure and the safety of the civilians. But as it starts to progress, you can really start to feel the fatigue set in. Thats why its so important to be aware of hydration.

Kremensky hosed down the vegetation around the home as best he could, at one point ripping flaming brush away from a propane tank that eventually exploded with a bang, shooting a jet of flame into the air.

The fire continued to spread so quickly that many in the area were forced to shelter in place as more fire crews arrived. The Mitchells survived without injury, but up the road, others werent as lucky.

We had two victims who had sustained critical burn injuries, said Kremensky. At this point the fire was very intense and rapidly growing.

The people were treated and flown to UC San Diego Healths Regional Burn Center in Hillcrest, where they remained in critical condition as of last Sunday, according to Cal Fire. Their names were not released, and its unknown if they survived.

Fueled by a parched landscape, extreme heat and high winds, the Border 32 fire roared to more than 4,200 acres by 10 p.m. the first night. The blaze wouldnt get much larger before being completely extinguished five days later.

The rapid spread of such fires also highlights a growing concern across the state about how best to notify residents of life-threatening natural disasters. Many people have ditched their landlines in favor of cellphones, which can lose service if flames destroy the nearest cell tower. And such alerts often dont reach residents before theyre in harms way.

Mitchell said his cellphone never received an alert about the fire, which are routinely sent out by the county Office of Emergency Services. His stepson, who lives across the road, said he received one but only after he had already evacuated.

A scorched childs bicycle at Barrett Junction stands at the lot where Micael Quintanillas home was burned to the ground.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The county said it sent out a wireless evacuation order around 2:40 p.m. However, by then David Quintanillas mother was already trapped in the area, watching her mobile home burn to the ground.

She wasnt able to get any belongings, said the 46-year-old. It was seconds, and the home was engulfed.

The Border 32 fire was one of about half a dozen blazes that started in their community this summer, Quintanilla said. The first couple fires, they had helicopters and firefighters on it immediately. This fire for some reason just snuck up on everybody.

Thats probably because San Diego had enjoyed a relatively mild summer until the recent heat wave blanketed the state.

Tropical Storm Kay brought much needed precipitation to San Diego on Friday. However, any relief provided by the 1 to 4 inches of rain that fell in eastern parts of the county may be short-lived.

The rain wont have much of an impact on the live fuels, said Eric Just, unit forester for Cal Fire in San Diego, who added that vegetation will likely be bone dry again in a couple weeks.

Its not just that California is getting hotter under climate change but that temperatures are rising fastest in August through October when wildfire conditions are at their worst, said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University.

Were getting more severe daily-scale heat events and not just in the summer months, but critically in the fall period prior to the onset of the rainy season, he said.

Rising autumn temperatures and decreasing rainfall over the last four decades have contributed to an increase in wildfire across the state, according to a paper from Stanford and UCLA published in 2020 in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Specifically, the frequency of extreme fire weather has more than doubled since the early 1980s.

Californias warming over all 12 months, but the most rapid warming is in September, followed by August and October, said Diffenbaugh, who was a co-author on the study.

San Diego is now gearing up for its traditional fire season, when Santa Ana winds start blowing in from the east. Another extreme heat wave under those conditions could trigger a disaster on a scale the region hasnt seen in over a decade.

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San Diegos recent wildfires a harrowing harbinger of global heating - The San Diego Union-Tribune

For three years, the residents at the Oasis Mobile Home Park in the east valley have been without clean water. On multiple occasions, the EPA has found high levels of arsenic in the park's water system.

The issue continues to this day, but now some of the park's residents are dealing with another major issue on top of being without water, no electricity.

Residents say for several days now, power failures have forced them to endure the hot weather of the desert without air conditioning.

Cecilia Hernandez told Telemundo 15's Marco Revuelta that she and her family are going through unbearable days.

"It's a desperate thing, for me, for my children," Hernandez said. "Sometimes, when my baby can't take it anymore, she won't stop crying."

Hernandez is one of more than 200 families, or 1,100 people, living in the troubled mobile home park. She says the power outages began last Sunday.

"Since that day they have been shutting down for an hour, half an hour, sometimes for three hours," Hernandez said.

On Wednesday, Hernandez said she spent a total of four hours in the heat wave.

"For me this is an emergency, for these families, I'm not the only one here, my neighbors also have a baby," Hernandez said.

A spokesperson for the Imperial Irrigation District said they are aware of the situation. They add that the failures are in the infrastructure of the site which falls under the responsibility of the RV park managers.

Activists point out that this is a reflection of the discomfort faced by those who live there.

"The problems in the park go far beyond the water. It's the lights, the garbage, the problems with the handlers, there are many more problems in this parking lot and that's why we are asking for the relocation of the Oasis residents as soon as possible," said Omar Gastelum, a member of the Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability.

Riverside County has been working to relocate residents. In June, the Board of Supervisors approved the allocation of$7 million for phase 1 of the Oasis Villas Apartments. The project will create new affordable and safe housing opportunities for families living at Oasis Mobile Home Park and other dilapidated housing in the east valley.

The $7 million for the project comes froma $30 million state grant Riverside County receivedto provide relocation assistance for the park's residents.

Gastelum said that with temperatures in the triple digits, action needs to be taken urgently.

"We know the effects that being exposed to extreme heat for a long time can have, so that problem has been going on for more than a week and a half now, so we think it's time for someone to take some kind of action," Gastelum said.

Hernandez tells us that there are 15 homes impacted by the power outages.

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Residents of troubled Oasis Mobile Home Park now dealing with power failures amid high temperatures - kuna noticias y kuna radio

Welcome to Whats Up With Water your need-to-know news of the worlds water from Circle of Blue. Im Eileen Wray-McCann.

In Europe, countries continue to endure an extremely hot and dry summer. Another heat wave is pressing across the continent, influenced by climate change. The impacts are widespread. In southwestern France, a massive wildfire forced more than 10,000 people to flee their homes, according to Reuters news service. Temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit have made the region a tinderbox.

In Germany, transport authorities are monitoring the Rhine River as water levels drop to critical levels. The AP reports that the key waterway could soon be too low to move most cargo. Conditions are not quite as extreme as in 2018, when the river reached a record low. But the Rhine is currently so depleted that large ships carrying salt, coal, gasoline and other goods must drastically reduce their loads to avoid running aground. The cargo restrictions are another blow to a continent already trying to manage an energy crisis due to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

And in Great Britain, officials who are considering an emergency drought declaration will not have a backup water supply at the ready. A major desalination plant in London said it will be at least another year before it will supply drinking water to residents. The Guardian reports that the Thames Water Plant opened in 2010, intending to provide drinking water for up to 1 million people during water shortages. Now, the company says it has scaled back the plants estimated capacity by a third, and that it will take more work before it can begin operating.

As Europe suffers a lack of water, a weather calamity of an opposing nature has afflicted mountainous regions of the American Southeast. This week, Circle of Blue reports on what flooding in Kentucky means for its poorest residents.

At the end of July, catastrophic downpours killed dozens of people in Eastern Kentucky, after a powerful storm system passed through some of the poorest counties in the United States.

Scott McReynolds lives in the town of Krypton. He says that calling the rising waters historic would be an understatement. The Appalachian foothills near his home became high-velocity funnels, sending violent torrents into areas that had never flooded before. In the dead of night, residents were forced to make a harrowing choice: try to ride out the storm at home or brave the violent waters to escape to higher ground. In desperation, one mother bound herself to her children using the cord of a vacuum cleaner as waters swept their trailer down river. The floods took the lives of thirty-seven people, three of them young children.

This part of Kentucky is already beset with poverty, and the path of recovery is almost as daunting as the floods. The hardest-hit countiesClay, Knott, Letcher, and Perryhave a median annual income thats about 40 percent lower than the national average. About a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. In some census tracts, over half the housing units are mobile homes. In Eastern Kentucky, as in many of Americas poorest communities, poverty and flood risk are two halves of a brutal cycle: low-income people are more likely to be located in flood zones, and less likely to access relief funds for repairing the damage. McReynolds has worked as an affordable housing developer in the area since the early 1990s, and hes watched this story unfold from the front lines. He said Our region has been a persistent poverty region for as long as theyve tracked poverty statistics. One of the effects of that is that we have more than our fair share of really bad housing. Its not surprising that a lot of those got flooded.

Many of the flood victims will be applying for government aid, but the housing assistance funds available are no match for the demand, both in Kentucky and nationwide. Only about one in four U.S. residents who are eligible for federal rental assistance receives it. Families wait an average of two and a half years to receive housing vouchers. With limited resources at his disposal, McReynolds must make heartbreaking choices: should he help two people in extreme poverty, or five who are only considered very low income?

In times of disaster, this chronic deficit becomes a crisis. Many trailer parks are built on cheap and risky land, so its not surprising that they bore the brunt of the flood damages, both this year and last. Its in keeping with nationwide trends. Analysts at Headwaters Economics found that one in seven mobile homes are built in an area with high flood risk, compared to one in 10 for all other housing types. State officials say the floods have left hundreds of Kentuckians homeless.

After dealing with the initial trauma, low-income flood victims may face additional challenges during the many steps of the recovery process. Mobile home owners face obstacles in getting access to federal and state assistance. Homeowner verification is difficult for inherited properties that lack proper documentation. Stigma and confusion around whether trailer parks qualify for disaster assistance can also interfere with getting help. Because mobile home residents lack the same legal protections as renters, evictions from mobile home parks are significantly higher after disasters. Most often, renters have no option but to rebuild in the same vulnerable location. Said McReynolds It really comes down to limited means: an older mobile home is sometimes the only thing people can afford. Folks wind up fixing up their mobile home if they can, and staying in the floodplain. This is an economic reality. Its that or homelessness.

Global climate change is only accelerating this cycle. Downpours are getting more intense, and have caused more flash flooding that spreads outside river floodplains, so previous flood risk maps dont help much anymore. The eastern U.S. is seeing a steep increase in the number of extreme rain events, and the trend is expected to continue as the planet warms further. McReynolds said that the climate outlook underlines the need to pursue development options that lower flood risk. He said How do we begin to get the state and federal resources that we need, at the level we need, in order to address the folks who are really vulnerable? We cant just keep putting people back in the floodplain.

And thats Whats Up With Water from Circle of Blue, where water speaks. More water news and analysis await you at circleofblue.org. This is Eileen Wray-McCann thanks for being here.

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What's Up With Water August 16, 2022 - Circle of Blue

Call upon Me in the day of trouble Psalm 50:15

I cried at the Mexican restaurant last Saturday. Normally a place of chips, salsa, and laughter, I was reflecting on the day. I tried to describe it to my beloved through the tears.

My friend Paige and I wanted to help in some way. We had baked cornbread and cake to be given out with meals in areas devastated by recent flooding but hoped to do something hands on. We found that a neighbors family in Knott County had been hit hard by rising water on July 28.

Travelling to the Beaver Creek area Saturday morning, we saw first-hand what an ocean of raging flood water could do. Pictures and videos had not done the devastation justice. We were stunned. Cars stood on end in the creeks and were smashed into guardrails. Mobile homes were torn in half. Enormous piles of debris were at every household. There was much to take in.

When we arrived at our destination, we found that the bulk of mud-out had already taken place. We could see the water line on the outside; everything on the inside had been deconstructed, down to the studs.

The lady of the house, a beautiful retired teacher, told us her husband had longed to live in that very house since he was a little boy. When it came on the market last year, they had jumped at the chance to buy it but were not able to begin remodeling then because her mother was dying. After caring for her and her death earlier this year, they were finally able to completely renovate the dream house.

Theyd just moved in.

We saw her brand-new gas stove and refrigerator that had been delivered nine days before the flood. Now filled with gunk, they sat in a wall-less kitchen.

Paige and I cleaned with brushes, brooms, and shop vacs, trying to get mud out of each nook and cranny. Everything had to be pristine before building back. It will be awhile.

I was glad I had a mask on and was on my knees so no one could see my tears. Tears for the homeowner and the magnitude of the task before them.Mud was still wet in some corners. There is a constant fight against the black mold that comes after floods. So much had been lost. They were so tired.

The homeowner shared that she had experienced many things since the flood: fear, anger, disappointment. She knows the Lord but admitted that it is still hard getting through it all. I thought of the story of Naomi in the book of Ruth. Her loss had been great. She was full of heartache and other emotions, yet the Lord helped her start a new chapter in her life. An amazing chapter that was more than she could have ever dreamed: beauty from ashes. In our area, it will be beauty from mud. Somehow, He can do that here.

She shared another tragic story: The flood had come at night. They received a surprising call to check outside and were stunned to find that they were already surrounded by water. As they hurried to safety, she saw small lights and could hear yelling from a few houses down. A man was being swept away in his trailer. Neighbors were yelling for him to jump out of his home, into the water. It was scary yet the only way he would survive. He saw their flashlights waving. He heard their cries. But he was too afraid to leap.

I cried on the way homea place with walls and no mud. As of Sunday, Samaritans Purse still had a work order for 471 homes. Each one filled with sludge and heartache.

Call upon Me in the day of troublearound these parts, the day of trouble was July 28, 2022.

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FIRST-PERSON: In the day of trouble | Perspectives | kentuckytoday.com - Kentucky Today

LEADVILLE A coffee shop downtown finally got fed up with the question and posted an answer: No, you cannot leave your bicycle in here. Everyone has a $10,000 bike.

The sign got laughs from the locals, whove earned the right by living year-round at 10,000 feet to poke fun at Front Range and out-of-state tourists and their fancy bikes.

Gobs of them flooded this mountain town during the pandemic, bought second homes to work remotely for the summer, drove up property taxes and the cost of breakfast burritos, and pinched out the workers who commute over the hill to clean hotels in Vail and Frisco.

Just a few years ago, Leadville was a quiet place where houses were affordable, workers were available and business was slow compared to nearby mountain towns. Folks who live here figure the high elevation kept people away.

Thats over now.

Leadville has gained international notoriety with its Leadville 100, a grueling, 100-mile ultra-run at high elevation that happens this weekend. Its mountain bike race, 100 miles topping out at 12,424 feet, attracts competitors from around the world, including Lance Armstrong, who won in 2009. Theres also skijoring, in which a horse pulls a skier down the snow-covered main street, and burro racing, in which a donkey and a trail runner take turns pulling each other up and down a 3,000-foot mountain pass.

The extreme-terrain events have been amping up Leadvilles profile for years, yet unlike all the resort towns around it where tourism fueled a booming economy over the past few decades Leadville still felt like a quiet, old mining town.

The coronavirus pandemic, though, shoved Leadville and Lake County full speed into the kind of vacation-rental economy thats now common in Colorados high country. While second homes in the county sit vacant or are listed as short-term rentals, a housing shortage has doubled or even tripled home prices. Half of all home sales in 2020 and 2021 were to second-home owners. Some restaurants have had to close a couple of days a week because they cant find workers who can afford to live there.

Town leaders at least had the advantage of seeing the affordable housing crises unfold in Vail, Breckenridge and Aspen, and they jumped ahead of the curve in passing an ordinance that caps non-owner-occupied vacation rentals at 12% of all housing in the city limits. Now theres talk of lowering the cap, which the city quickly reached and had to put want-to-be landlords on a waiting list.

County commissioners, for their part, made it easier for homeowners to build garage apartments and other so-called accessory dwelling units, simplifying the permit process.

We want growth on our terms, said Jeff Fiedler, one of three Lake County commissioners. We want to keep whats special about this place. We have one school district, one Safeway, one post office. We all know each other. Nothing against people who visit, but we dont want to be 70% short-term rentals and second-home owners.

Of course there is grumbling about property taxes and Texas license plates in the county of about 8,000, as well as plenty of opinions usually expressed in Safeway aisle No. 7 or at the coffee shop on historic Harrison Avenue rather than in public meetings, Fiedler said. The long-time residents pine for quieter times, before their property taxes doubled and the streets were packed with people who drove in for the weekend to watch a racing event and eat a fry-bread taco.

Most, though, are talking about how to deal with the growth in a thoughtful way, trying to figure out how to keep the old-time charm but create affordable housing and more child care options.

On the bright side, the boost in tax dollars is helping Lake County begin to catch up on gaps in services left lingering for decades. County commissioners have moved ahead with plans for a $45 million justice center after major liability and safety concerns about the dilapidated jail. The jail in Leadville hasnt been updated in 65 years and, before closing two years ago, had cell doors so rickety that deputies had to ask inmates to help wiggle them open.

The county has been driving criminal offenders all the way to the eastern plains, at a cost of about $250,000 per year.

You could get arrested for a DUI or drunk and disorderly on Saturday, and you wake up Sunday morning on the Kansas border, Fiedler said. And then you have no way home.

Growth brings plenty of problems, but at least there are more tax dollars flowing into the city and county to fix some of them, he said. Commissioners recently boosted salaries so now the lowest-paid county workers make a minimum of $40,000 per year. Construction on the new justice center is expected to start next year.

We are catching up on that kind of deferred maintenance. We are able to provide raises to county staff, said Fiedler, who became a commissioner a year and a half ago. We havent had the money to consider doing that.

Vanessa Saldivar moved to Leadville about a year ago after accepting a job with a local nonprofit. She and her husband had dreams of buying a home and settling into the small-town life. Except there were no homes, to buy or even to rent.

The move from Denver was delayed by months as Saldivars new coworkers networked through friends to find a rental house. They took the rental and kept looking for a home to buy, watching as the prices were inflating at an alarming rate, Saldivar said.

At this point, we have given up hope, she said. It impacts our long-term plans and our ability to put down roots here.

To add to their stress, the couple had a baby last fall but hasnt found child care. They are 12th on a waitlist and Saldivars husband is staying home to take care of their daughter.

Its such a lovely place to live that we just keep pushing through, she said.

The price for Leadvilles growth is being paid for by the families that live in this town who, by and large, are not super affluent, Saldivar said. Weve reached a point where people cant innocently own a second home in Lake County and Airbnb it and think theyre not hurting people. If we cant house teachers, health care workers, our nonprofit leaders, our families that live here are the ones that pay for that. Not the vacation-home owners.

Ted Green, who moved to Leadville from Chicago with his wife and three kids a year ago, spent the first few months dismantling suspicions about his intentions. Green left behind what on paper was the picture-perfect life, spacious home and a job at Facebook to open a candy store on Leadvilles main street.

Locals who walked into the new Blueflower Candies & Provisions suspected Green was some rich guy who opened the store and then intended to live elsewhere and pay someone minimum wage to run it. Hes had to win them over, one by one, by explaining that his wife is a teacher at the local school and his family is living full-time in Leadville.

Residents are fed up with people with money coming into town and buying buildings and turning them into swanky things that they had where they were from, said Green, who admits he used to wear tailored clothes and tried to keep up with the Joneses and was miserable. They walk in and say, Where do you live? What else do you do? Theyre waiting for me to say that I live in Denver and Im going to have somebody run the store for 12 bucks an hour. Im super sensitive to that. Thats why Im so cautious and welcoming to everybody in the community.

The Greens were lucky, buying three acres south of town about four years ago, before the rush. Theyre living in a rental while building a house on their property, which has a view of the Mosquito Range and access to Mount Sheridan from a backyard that touches a national forest. Its like 360 degrees of awesomeness, said Green, a cyclist. Our backyard is basically infinite.

He quickly got involved in Leadvilles economic development corporation and ended up bailing on his initial plan of opening an ice cream shop when he learned a nearby hotel was putting in an ice cream parlor.

With the candy shop, Green is trying to make sure he fills a need for locals, not just tourists with kids. In the summer, tourists raid the grocery store and leave the shelves bare, so Green added some basic groceries and granola bars to his inventory. He also keeps a running list of nostalgic candy mentioned by locals, including Boston Baked Beans and Black Jack chewing gum.

I didnt want to be the guy that came in from the big city and said, I know what is going to work, he said. I wanted to support the community first and the tourists second.

The reasons Leadville took off so fast stem from how it was doing before coronavirus showed up.

Interest in the town was growing, thanks to the race series that goes all summer, building up to the Leadville 100 in August. But the town was still low-key and affordable, the 10,000-foot location a deterrent to many. Its harder to breathe, obviously, but also harder for some to sleep and a more difficult place to grow old. Vacation homes were under $200,000 only a few years ago.

Also, theres no huge resort, only the family-oriented Ski Cooper about 15 minutes away. The tourism was never centered on a ski resort, but on a combination of smaller attractions hiking trails, ultra running, mountain climbing and cycling, and the museums focused on the history of the mining town that stretches back to the 1850s when miners discovered gold.

All of it meant Leadville was set up to blossom when the pandemic sent tourists outdoors and remote workers in search of mountain homes.

It hadnt bloomed yet, and why? asked Francisco Tharp, who has lived in Leadville for 12 years. The towns surrounding Leadville Vail, Aspen, Salida went through the booms long ago. But Leadville was a depressed mining town into the 1990s. It hadnt blown up in that way.

Leadville was still considered a bedroom community, where many residents traveled to work in nearby resort towns, cleaning hotel rooms and serving food. About 70% of the workforce was going over the hill to work in Summit and Eagle counties, said Tharp, who recently stepped down from the city council after moving out of his ward. Thats beginning to shift as there are more construction and tourism jobs in Lake County, he said.

Its not a bedroom community anymore, Tharp said. And people have nowhere to go. Leadville was the last place that people got pushed out of, and thats going to affect Summit County and Eagle County.

In 2016, Tharps family bought a three-bedroom home in downtown Leadville for $175,000. You couldnt even get a closet in Vail for that, he said. Now, his house, which he uses as a long-term rental, could sell for four times that, Tharp said.

The population in Lake County hasnt actually gone up that much, but the shift has brought in more second-home owners and pushed out lower-income residents, local leaders said. And the divide between the wealthy and the poor is widening, which has caused a kind of geographic segregation. Many of the countys working class are Latino, concentrated in some of the last available affordable housing mobile home parks. About 70% of the school district is Latino.

Tharps partner, Elsa Tharp, owns a hotel in town on the grounds of an old train depot. Freight has a group of cabins for rent, plus an events venue to host weddings and quinceaneras. Finding workers has been a challenge.

Francisco Tharp said that while Leadville and Lake County leaders are doing what they can to manage the growth, he hopes state lawmakers take action, too. He wants a mechanism for counties to charge a vacant-home tax, as well as better documentation so that communities can keep track of second-home ownership.

While some question whether the racing series, which was sold by its founder to Life Time Fitness in 2010, got too big, brought too much notoriety, Tharp disagrees. When the series began in Leadville, the town was impoverished, suffering from the closure of the mines in the 1990s. People were moving away; houses were selling for cheap.

What was the alternative? Just wallowing in poverty, he said. Its a complicated story, and people might have different opinions about whether we are better off now or could we have taken a different tack.

Trail running, including the Leadville 100, is mainly what made Greg Labbe fall in love with the town. He moved to Leadville full time 11 years ago and now hes the mayor.

Labbe, 74, hasnt run a whole 100 and doesnt plan to, but hes joined his sons in the race for as long as 34 miles.

The mayor says the last couple of years have been weird, to say the least. While other towns and counties were suffering during the pandemic, tax collections were up 46% in 2020 in Leadville, he said. Businesses were reporting a 30% increase in sales.

It was stunning. At the same time, our affordable housing was diminishing, Labbe said. A restaurant that had plenty of staff now has 70% of staff so they have to close on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In 2020 and 2021, about 50% of all home sales were to second-home owners, the mayor said. A new housing development on the north end of town is expected to add about 300 homes, though the 10-year project is just beginning.

Its not just the housing crisis thats exhausting, the locals say. The towns vibe has changed as tourism has grown more intense.

We used to have mud season,said Nathalie Eddy, wife of commissioner Fiedler and director of the annual burro race. There was this quiet time in the fall where you just felt the energy go down. You only saw friends and family in town. Weve lost those shoulder seasons. There is almost never a time when youre like, ahhh. Its good for the businesses, but its just a different rhythm that we are adjusting to.

Still, its not entirely fair to judge others who want to escape to the mountains just because they didnt get there first, said Eddy, who moved to town 14 years ago. We were all new here at some point. Most of us arent old Leadville, she said. Everybody is trying to figure out how to embrace this change.

And the whole town is trying to figure out how to deal with its popularity.

There is a difference between what the races bring to town in terms of commerce and in terms of identity, Mayor Labbe said.

This is a small, mountain city. We are known around the world and I take pride in that. I want people to value Leadville the way I value it, but I dont want them to feel like they need to move here to do that.

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Leadville was an old mining town until COVID brought the tourists - The Colorado Sun

When we last spoke in March, Bonny Doon resident Ann McKenzie, whose home burned down in the CZU Lightening Complex fires, was waiting on the county permits so she could start rebuilding her homeand lifeafter the fires.

Not much has changed.

McKenzie is going on her third year of living without a permanent home. She shares an RV with her husband on the property where their home once stood, and she expects it will be nearly another year before they are able to move into their rebuilt home.

One of the most frustrating parts, says McKenzie, is that they havent even been able to break ground. Thats due to the permitting process, which she says has been slow and tedious. McKenzie and her husband originally applied to get pre-clearance permits on April 14, 2021. They finally received them in May of 2022, over a year after they started the process.

McKenzie is now waiting on different permitsand so are the majority of CZU fire survivors.

Two years after the fires, 187 permits are still being processed, and the county has issued 152 pre-clearances.

Out of the 911 homes that were destroyed in the fires, only 11 have been rebuilt.

That leaves a gap of almost 600 homes that are not currently in the process of rebuilding legally. The remaining homeowners could still apply for permits, but in March, Good Times spoke with multiple people who were fed up with the lengthy permitting processafter living for two years in tents or mobile homes, in many casesand admitted they planned to rebuild illegally, without permits.

County officials say the county has tried to pare down the process as much as possible, by cutting permitting costs, setting up the Office of Response Recovery as a resource to help homeowners rebuild, and hosting informational town halls to help with the permitting process.

As for why only 11 homes have been reconstructed, a county official speculates that contractor scarcity and supply chain issues could be to blame for the large discrepancy between people with permits in hand and finalized homes. CZU fire survivors are looking at higher residential construction costs, a labor shortage problem in construction and building material shortages.

McKenzies story illustrates another reason: that even after all pre-clearance permits are issued, theres still lag time to receive the other necessary permits.

After pre-clearances, owners like McKenzie submit applications for their dwelling units building permit, which includes construction documents, geotechnical engineering report, along with any other required technical material.

McKenzies designers submitted those additional permits to 4Leaf, the countys permitting agency, on July 29.

But to her dismay and frustration, 4Leaf notified her that the Single Family Dwelling permit must be submitted separately from the Additional Dwelling Unit permit, a detail she says no one mentioned beforehand. Her designers are still separating the documents.

The whole permitting process was riddled with small (and not-so-small) setbacks like this one, according to McKenzie. 4Leaf has a processing timeline of 10 days, but McKenzie says the reality tends to be closer to a few weeks, and even sometimes a month.

McKenzies story is not unique, especially because the areas hit the hardest by the fires were in the more rural parts of Santa Cruz County. Bonny Doon, Ben Lomand and other areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains were home to the majority of the 911 houses that were burned during the fires.

Those communities have struggled the most to get up to code, according to Michael Renner, Executive Director of 4Leaf. Pre-clearances take into consideration fire access, environmental health-sewage disposal and potential geologic hazards. But the requirements to receive those permits have changed in the time that these more rural communities developed, and many people have lived in the areas homes for generations.

McKenzie just hopes that she can get all the permits soonas the rainier months loom, she knows getting the foundation done as soon as possible will be crucial, so that construction can continue throughout winter.

The day she does break ground, McKenzie plans on celebratingeven though it marks the start of another months-long journey,

Im gonna have a ceremony and a ribbon cutting, and Im gonna stand there with a shovel, she says.

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Two Years After CZU: Still Tangled in Red Tape | Good Times - Good Times

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Las Vegas mobile homes in high demand as property values, rent continue to soar - FOX5 Las Vegas

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) For the last few years, Franklin and VyTeshia Badger focused on inflatables.

Their Jump Jump Around Rentals business brought bounce houses to homes.

Then VyTeshias younger brother had a birthday party on a gaming trailer, and it turned into a game-changer for the couple.

Were like we can do this. So we put our heads together and started to search for the bus, VyTeshia said.

Six months later, they created the Level Up mobile arcade.

We wanted to make sure we cater toall ages, all types of gamer. So we got a large variety. We have a PS5, which is really like a hot commodity right now, Franklin said.,

COVID has made people more cautious and helped this business succeed.

It actually has been really good for us.People have wanted that safety that they know that the equipment is sanitized. A lot of trampoline parks, you dont know how often things are sanitized. But we sanitize right on site, Franklin said.

Inside the shuttle, you will find several televisions hooked up to gaming systems.

We have several games on the PS5 right now such as Madden, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto. We have PS4, Xbox, and some of the kids favorite is the Nintendo Switch. They love the Mario Kart and the Super Smash Brothers, Franklin said.

The gaming bus can hold 12 to 14 kids, and it comes with lighting and music.

Youll also find a classic Pac-Man machine onboard and other options for adults to get in on the fun.

We have four TVs in there, so you can actually play just regular cable TV on our TVs. You can watch several games that are going on Sunday night and Monday night, and you and your guys can come on our bus and watch the game and keep up with your fantasy league, Franklin said.

This new level of business will keep the Badgers business rolling all year. But before their game is over, they have next-level plans.

We want to become a household name. We want everyone to know Jump Jump Around and Level Up Arcade, VyTeshia said.

The couple prides themselves on being a one-stop-shop.

You could pretty much call us, and we could handle your entire birthday party.All you have to do is show up and invite your guest, and well show up and bring the party to you, Franklin said. So I think just being able to provide all these necessities for any type of it makes us different makes us stand out.

You can book the arcade bus or get an inflatable at jumpjumparoundrentals.com, or you can call (336) 486-8793.

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Greensboro couple creates mobile gaming bus to bring the party to you - WGHP FOX8 Greensboro

Connecticut homeowners insurance overview

There's more to finding the best homeowners insurance in Connecticut than identifying the lowest premium. Here are some other factors worth considering when shopping for a policy in Connecticut:

There are six types of policies designed to cover traditional (non-mobile) homes, from basic policies to coverage with all the bells and whistles. The best homeowners insurance companies offer them all. It pays to look for the level of coverage that best fits whatever would need to be repaired or replaced following damage. For example, a homeowner with a recording studio in the basement may want extra coverage to protect expensive recording equipment.

A cheap policy may be inexpensive only because it provides so little coverage. If a homeowner sleeps better at night knowing they have plenty of coverage, it may be worth paying a slightly higher premium.

A deductible is an amount a homeowner is responsible for paying toward a claim. Let's say a basement leaks, and the total cost of the repair is $7,000. If the policy includes a $1,000 deductible, the homeowner pays the contractors $1,000, and the insurance company covers the remaining $6,000.

One way to land cheap homeowners insurance in Connecticut is to look into all possible policy discounts. Until a homeowner has factored in all available discounts, it's nearly impossible to compare one policy to another. Almost all insurance companies offer home insurance discounts. They include things as basic as the insured being a non-smoker to the house having a newer roof.

Every region is known for a different set of natural disasters. For example, Arkansas has tornadoes, and South Carolina has hurricanes. But natural disasters are not the only reason a Connecticut homeowner might file a claim. Here are some of the top Connecticut home insurance claims:

The only places on the planet that are thunderstorm-free are in the Arctic Ocean near the north pole and in the interior of Antarctica. That means all homeowners in the U.S. must concern themselves with what happens if a thunderstorm damages their home. Wind and hail can wreak havoc on roofs, gutters, siding, and outbuildings.

Whether lightning causes a fire or a fire begins some other way, the fact that fire and lightning are among the top insurance claims underscores the importance of having a policy that fully covers the homeowner's financial investment.

Given that Connecticut is so far north, it's no surprise that one of the most common claims is for water damage. Something as simple as ice piling up on a roof and then melting can cause roof damage and leaks into the interior of a home. In addition, homeowners make claims when appliances leak, pipes burst, and basements take on water.

Most homeowners adore their pups, and can't imagine the family pet biting a visitor. But dogs are animals, and whether it's due to an overprotective or an anxious dog, bites are one of the most common claims made by Connecticut homeowners.

A simple slip and fall can lead to something as easy to fix as a skinned knee. On the other hand, it can lead to serious injury and result in a huge hospital bill. Given that slips and falls are not at all rare, it's important to carry a homeowners insurance policy with enough coverage to deal with the outcome of a slip and fall -- whatever it may be.

The best homeowners insurance in Connecticut provides a high enough level of coverage to take care of whatever peril may befall a home. Looking for homeowners insurance is a matter of comparing coverage options and potential discounts. Here's a bit more about coverage and discount options:

Homeowners with a non-mobile home have a choice of six categories of coverage. These categories are referred to as HO-1 through HO-8. Of the eight, one type covers renters, and another covers mobile homes only. The six remaining policy types range from basic coverage to comprehensive protection. A homeowner can pick up coverage, for instance, for jewelry, precious coins, and artwork. The trick is to match a policy to the needs of a specific homeowner.

Locating cheap homeowners insurance in Connecticut depends, in part, on taking advantage of as many discounts as possible. Each insurer offers a different set of homeowners insurance discounts. Here are some of the most common:

There are any number of reasons a home may be more (or less) expensive to insure. For example, insurance companies look at the crime rate in a city, how near (or far) a house is from a fire station, and the value of other homes in the area. Here are the five cheapest cities in Connecticut for homeowners insurance:

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2022 Best Cheap Homeowners Insurance in Connecticut - Motley Fool