Attacked by a 40 foot maple tree

Our Memorial day camping trip at kerr lake in NC didnt start out very well. Thursday night just maybe 5 hours after getting the rig set up, A bad storm blew up. Niki and myself sat out side and watched the storm come across the lake. It was a great natural fireworks show until the hail ran us into the camper. Then it really went downhill. This 40 foot maple decided it was tired of standing behind the camper,

It could have been alot worse it fell beside the Bighorn. instead of directly on top of it. but the limbs of the tree caught just above the bedroom on the doorside.

Some damage to the roof where it radiuses over the side. You can press down on the EDPM and feel where a couple of roof trusses are bent and broken.

Didnt come all the way through, but it did push into the ceiling in one spot.

About 13 of these that are large enough to see, and several places where the limbs cut the rubber as they slid off.

And of course Niki's Tahoe was parked in front of the camper.



All in all we were lucky, it could have landed directly on top of the camper. 2 tubes of Dicor to seal up all the holes we could find and we finished out the trip. Brought it home tuesday, the insurance adjuster came to look at it yesterday. Now we get to battle with them and figure out where in the world we are going to take it to get it fixed. Our dealer says he cant even get it in the shop to get an estimate until sometime in august. Any suggestions?

If I lived as close as you, I would take a nice trip to Elkhart IN and get it fixed by the best in the business.

Oh man, thats a bummer. Good thing nobody was hurt. The up side it that is wasn't worse. Sorry to see that.
Maybe with a pallet or two of Dicor it will still be usable till it gets in the shop.
Keep us posted on the repair.
Now I'm lookin at this 40 foot pine tree we are parked next to. Hmm.

Peace
Dave

Glad you and Niki did not get hurt. Maybe a call to the factory can get it repaired faster.

Oh my gosh! I am so sorry. I feel or felt your pain a little over a year ago. I wish you all the best in finding a good repair shop, and I really mean "find". My suggestion (and remember, you asked) is please don't just go to the first one that gives you an estimate or is close to home, sometimes it pays to drive a long way. Call Heartland customer service and ask them to recommend a good one, check them out and try try try to get your insurance company to make the check out only to you and not to you and the repair shop, that gives them so much power over you that they pretty much know that they can get by with doing shoddy work because you have to give them the check for the full amount even if they don't fix everything. Also, your insurance company should pay for some under roof storage if it will stop more damage, I would check into that.
Best of luck and again, I am so sorry.
Nita

You might want to give RV Outlet USA in Ringold, VA (just east of Danville) a call. They are a big Heartland dealer about 80 miles from you and have a service shop.

Wesley, Sorry for you troubles... My suggestion is call Midway RV in Salisbury Maryland. I have been impressed with what they can do. Send them the pics and I'll bet they can Yeah or Neah your repairs. They are less then a day away and I'll bet they will/can work something out with you. One thing for sure, if they can't help you they will not lie to you, you'll know and you will feel comfortable in their answer. Good luck my friend Tom

Bummer Wesley - glad you two weren't injured! I'd also recommend calling RVOutletUSE in Danville. I've heard some good things about their service department.

Wesley & Niki:
Were you staying in a private campground? If so, I would think they would have some liability in this.
I know if a tree in my yard falls on my neighbor's property, I am liable.

Glad you are both OK. Sorry your camper has some wounds and we are hoping you can get it fixed soon.

Keep us updated on how it goes.

Looks out the back door at many huge Oak trees~~ going to try to convince hubby to get out the chain saw!!!

You might be able to make a temporary fix to the roof with Eternabond Tape make for rubber roofs. Then you could use it until you get into a repair shop.

wdk450 said:

Wesley & Niki:
Were you staying in a private campground? If so, I would think they would have some liability in this.
I know if a tree in my yard falls on my neighbor's property, I am liable.

Click to expand...

Not in New Jersey. Been there done that. My neighbor's tree, which he new was bad and needed to come down, fell on our cars.
Crushed and totaled 1 car and damaged the 2nd.

My auto insurance paid for both, but I had a $500 deductible on each car so we were out $1000.

The only way the neighbor, or the campground, is responsible is if they knew the tree was rotted and susceptible to falling due to wind. Acts of God such as wind by themselves are not subject to liability - there must be negligence on the campground or neighbor. They had to know of the danger before the act occurred.

wdk450 said:

Wesley & Niki:
Were you staying in a private campground? If so, I would think they would have some liability in this.
I know if a tree in my yard falls on my neighbor's property, I am liable.

Click to expand...

I just went through this type liability issue after a storm a couple years ago. The only way you can be liable or neighbor for damage is if it can be proven the tree or limbs where dead and needed removed before storm damage occured. It also the same for other property blown from one property to another , it all falls under the Act of God clauses/laws and your out of luck trying to collect from someone else. I had to go through my insurance to get things fixed.....Kenny

In addition to my previous post, my neighbors knew the tree was in bad shape and had contacted the township parks department about having it removed. They refused and recommend they hire a private contractor. Contractors wanted too much money so they let it go. And the tree came down during a storm. It was big enough that from across the street the part that hit the cars crushed my wife's car and blew out a couple of the tires. Branches hit the house too, but there was no damage from that.
My insurance wanted no part in fighting and just paid the claim

I would try Tony's RV repair in Lexington Sc. They only do reapir work and are good to deal with.