Bad weather/trailers

The worst weather we have ever been in while camping was left over remnants of a tropical storm.
Lots of wind and thunderstorms but nothing deadly.

What do you guys do with bad weather like tornados with not much warning?

Especially those of you that full time, that is your home-is this a big concern or not ?

I will tell you a story. (I will make it short). Back when we had a popup a tornado came through the campground (Wild Wings Park at Port Clinton, Ohio.). Without warning (no sirens or anything). We (4 adults) were in our popup at the time. I dropped the windows so the wind could blow through and we watched the tornado come through the popup. It picked us up, moved us about 4 feet and when the corner of the popup hit the rear of our truck (van) the popup set back down. All of the 5ers, motor homes and travel trailers were overturned and some totally distroyed. The Davis Bessy Nuclear Power Plant next door was shut down too. Every since we carry and monitor a weather radio and find out where the storm shelter is. An we pray that God will protect in our travels. We also watch weather forecasts and do not travel if bad weather is forecast along our route, or our destination. If bad weather is going to hit where we are staying we go to the shelter or leave if it is going to be that bad and it is possible.

We agree with the weather radio, a must in our opinion. In the past we had bought the Radio Shack radio but the latest version(a few years ago) did not have an on/off switch and when unhooked you had to take the batteries out. We found a Midland(?) at Best Buy that still has an on/off switch.

SouthernNights said:

What do you guys do with bad weather like tornados with not much warning?
Especially those of you that full time, that is your home-is this a big concern or not ?

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Drink Heavily.

But seriously... Having lived in a couple mobile homes in my previous life, you can find two groups of folks. The ones who head to the mall when severe weather is coming, and those of us who will grab a couple beers and stand in the street with their neighbors, looking at the sky and asking each other, "how bad do you think it'll get?"

The weather radio is a must and is always on. I have the local "weather underground" website bookmarked as well, and monitor it anytime there is unsettled weather around. I can say in almost 5 years, full timing in North Carolina and Florida, we've not abandoned ship yet. Campgrounds are generally not very well equipped with facilities for storm shelters. Generally, by the time you know that you should have left your home and property behind, it's too late to leave or it's over with.

The closest call we ever had was in NC during a tropical storm event. The storm actually built in intensity over the course of a day, but kept getting better and worse as the rain bands kept coming. Around 11PM, we had gone to bed and there was a very near lightning strike around 1AM. We both jumped out of bed, dressed, and were checking to see if we were alive. We didn't lose power, but could smell electrical/electronic smoke in the camper. I spent an hour looking for the source of the smell, but couldn't figure it out. Everything worked fine. The storm let up a bit, so we went back to bed after an hour. About 3:30AM, something awoke my wife, and I found a Surge Protector Power Strip under the kitchen table with a 2-foot flame, licking the bottom of the dinette table and producing a very sooty (plastic) smoke. I grabbed it by the cord and tossed in the sink.

When it's your home, your always concerned. Having someplace to seek shelter and being willing to do so can be difficult for some of us. Either way, someone can criticize (would'a, could'a, should'a) but you have take your stand.

love your answer Rick.. haha... funny that this thread was here today.... I was walking the dogs this morning in between cracks of lightening... I was wondering about safety in a 5er during a big ole thunder storm.... made me think of my daughters reply to peps who ask, how dangerous is it to be in an airplane during a thunder storm (she is a flight attendant) hmmm.... think about this... you are in a tin can at 35,000 feet, with lightening all around you... hmmm... you do the math....

haha.... again, great topic... weather radio is for sure on the list of must haves before we hit the road full time later this summer~~

One other thing I forgot to add in my earlier post. Remember weather systems generally move west to east so if you are traveling to the east and you just went through a weather system give it some time before you travel or you might drive back into the system again. (Don't ask how I know)

What do you do, you grab your family and pets and run like ****! In a tornado situation you won't have time to hitch up and get out of the area. Find shelter and pray that your rig will survive! At least that was our experience in Warroad, MN in 2006 on the Aug long wknd. An F3 tornado ripped through destroying about 85% of the campground and everything in it! Boats, trailers, the pool, comfort stations, picnic shelters, the gift shop, playground and trees. We were very lucky with only a broken window in the Cat but the trailer next and across from us were under twisted and broken tress. Many trailers and boats were overturned and looked like domino's, some even missing. The next day I was told they couldn't account for 2 trailers, they believed they were in the lake! The town was very well organized with warning sirens and Police driving by giving directions to shelters. To the towns credit no one died or was seriously injured. The Red Cross put us up in a Super 8 for the nite. It was an experience that I'll never forget!!

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Wow Bill, such loss. Glad everyone in the town was ok.

The last picture is very sobering.