Yes, not burying potato seedlings sufficiently is a major reason for plants being damaged by wind, animals, etc. I noticed this also in Europe where I found that folks just don't hill up the potato seedling enough. This causes aerial tubers, tubers too close to the surface, misshaped tubers, knobby tubers.
I was photographed and filmed digging seedling potatoes in Ireland last October and I remember saying that the potato plants were not mounded up with enough soil. That was at Brown Envelop Seed's garden. I took photos in the Bretagne area of France showing a similar problem.
The original root ball of the seedling plant must be buried 4, better 6 inches into the soil once all hilling is finished. If this is accomplished, the potato plant produces much like a tuber planted potato.
Tom
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