Mobile home park resident concerned about tornado shelter

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When severe weather threatens, Mark Hussong of Alexandria is more worried than most people.

He, along with the 100 or so other residents at the Hustad Mobile Home Park on North McKay Avenue in Alexandria, have nowhere safe to go.

That’s what Hussong told the Alexandria City Council at its regular meeting Monday night.

Hussong, who has lived in the park for 11 years, said that residents have been advised to take shelter at various locations in the city when bad weather strikes.

There is no shelter at Hustad’s, not even a culvert.

Right now, the mobile home residents are advised to drive to the west side of town to the Marion Building – a two-and-a-half mile trip through town with traffic, lights and side streets.

Hussong timed the route, driving the speed limit, and it takes between 10 and 15 minutes. He added that the route runs to the west, the same direction most tornadoes come from.

Hussong asked the city if it could do something to help the park residents before a tornado catches everyone unprepared.

“We’ve been rolling the dice for a long time,” he said, adding how tornadoes seem to have a way of finding mobile home parks.

Mayor Dan Ness said that the city will ask its emergency management director, Dennis Stark, to look into the matter.

Some of the options include finding a closer shelter or requesting the park’s owner to build a shelter.

Hussong thanked the council for listening to his concerns.

Tags: local news, mobile home park, city council, news, tornado, weather