A jury in York County awarded $1.71 million last week to the estate of a Gloucester resident who died during the 2011 tornado that wreaked havoc in the county.

According to Robert H. Haddad, attorney for the estate, the late Richard Ingram had purchased a modular home from Custom Builders Express LLC and was in his nearby garage working when the tornado hit in April 2011. After the tornado, the house was found lying in the vicinity of the garage, and Ingram was found dead on the slab of the garage.

Haddad said that the home had been lifted off its foundation four or five feet and had flown over a car and through the air before crashing into the garage. During the discovery phase of the case, he said, it was determined that the house had been improperly fastened to its foundation by Custom Builders and that the defendant had allegedly violated several portions of the building code.

Custom Builders and its insurance company, Benchmark, represented by At...