Battle of Lake Charles | Hurricanes and Manufactured Homes

Hear the stories of our customers who lived through both a Cat 4 & Cat 2 Hurricane

Hurricane Laura ravaged the Lake Charles, Louisiana area on August 27, 2020. Just weeks after Laura’s landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm, Hurricane Delta struck Louisiana just 13 miles to the east in Cameron Parish. We were able to talk to a few Oak Creek homeowners who let us share their incredible stories.

Customer Noland

Nancy and Charles Noland’s Oak Creek Home withstood NOT one, but TWO Hurricanes. Hear their story and see how well their home stood up to both Cat. 4 Hurricane Laura and then six weeks later, Cat. 2 Hurricane Delta. The Nolands live in the Sugarloaf Community of Lake Charles, LA, which houses 240+ manufactured homes. We visited with the couple about a week after Hurricane Delta hit the Louisiana area on October 9, 2020. Nearly all the homes in this community were destroyed by both hurricanes. The Noland’s home was not one of them. They said it’s all because of the solid construction of their Oak Creek Home. Oak Creek uses a 47-point inspection system to make sure the home is tied down and secured appropriately. Oak Creek Homes are also proven to be heavier than the competition per J.D. Valuation Guides.

Customer Lewis

Customer Shawn Lewis says hurricanes were no match for her Oak Creek Home, as well as three other Oak Creek Homes in her community! “𝙊𝙖𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙… 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙛𝙪𝙡. 𝙎𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙛𝙪𝙡.” Cat. 4 Hurricane Laura on August 27, 2020, followed by Cat. 2 Hurricane Delta on October 9, 2020, hit Cooling Springs Residential Community in Lake Charles, Louisiana hard! Over 100+ manufactured homes were destroyed or are unlivable. Shawn, a single mother of two young boys, had only lived in her new Oak Creek Home a few weeks before the first hurricane hit. In her own words, she describes what she saw returning back to her community and home for the first time. She shares many personal pictures she took as well.

Customer Daigle

Customer Story: Katina Daigle lives in Eunice, LA. She bought an Oak Creek Home after her first home was destroyed by Hurricane Laura. Katina says she fell in love with our Top-Selling model, The Silver Spur, and quickly purchased it. Her new home was barely three weeks old when word came that Hurricane Delta was now on the way. Katina shares her story, along with what happened next… (we don’t want to give the ending away, but her new Oak Creek Home was completely undamaged! SEE the before and after pictures).

Customer Beaugh

Fire destroyed Ronald Beaugh’s onsite built home. But hurricanes were no match for his new Oak Creek Home. Ronald Beaugh has lived on the same street in Lake Charles, LA for over 40 years. In his own words, Ronald shares his story and shows us how his Oak Creek Home held up to both Cat. 4 Hurricane Laura, which hit on August 29, 2020, and Cat. 2 Hurricane Delta, which made landfall on October 9, 2020.

Customer Unkel

Kenneth Unkel shares his Oak Creek Home in Kinder, LA with his two dogs. That’s Dusty you see sitting attentively as Kenneth snapped a picture of his home. Kenneth is an engineer. He says he purchased an Oak Creek home a few years ago because of its quality construction. “𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.” In his own words (in the video above), hear his story and see how his home withstood both Cat. 4 Hurricane Laura and Cat. 2 Hurricane Delta. The only damage to his home was to its skirting. Kenneth said, “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒔 (𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝑶𝒂𝒌 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔)… 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆.”

Customer Baker

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

𝓒𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂: Wade Baker and his girlfriend, Carrie Lee, had just moved into one of Oak Creek Homes’ newest models, “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗮𝗹”… when they were force to flee after word a hurricane was headed their way. They had just built a 40 x 80 metal shop close to their home. Which would fare BETTER? 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While the above stories and pictures accurately portray the outcomes as to several of our homes (and customers), they may not be indicative of the outcomes of others in this particular storm or in any other storm. Further, we are NOT suggesting or advocating that remaining in an Oak Creek Home during a storm with high winds and/or heavy rains and/or flooding is advisable. To the contrary, we urge our customers to be vigilant as to the risks inherent in any weather event, and act accordingly, consistent with the advice and instructions of local authorities.

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The Battle of Lake Charles

The Tale of Two Cat's