Not only that.
Portable HDD's are extremely susceptible to damage. For the same reasons as the Flash Drives. Anything that is meant to be plugged and unplugged suffers from the same problem. No matter how careful you are when disconnecting or connecting the USB interface sooner or later craps out killing the drive. Even External HDD's may suffer from that.
I have a pile of them, both Portable and External, all dead because the USB's interfaces either shorted or simply died. In 20 years I was able to save 2 by removing them from the cases and putting them Internal. All the others... they are just very expensive scrap.
The best solution is an Internal HDD or SSD, when that isn't possible, go External HDD. Just choose a good brand (that means no Seagate). Preferably something geared to Gamers, but read the reviews, thoroughly. Portable HDD's if you want something to use VERY rarely, or that you will NEVER unplug.
Oh, and seriously invest in a protection system against brownouts and surge peaks. That will pay for itself the first time a thunder storm in your area sends a peak through the network.
Peace