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Ours unfurled a couple of years ago while southbound on I25 in a stiff crosswind (estimated 60 mph)near Walsenburg, CO. A pickup pulled up along side us and kept pointing up. We mouthed "Thanks" and pulled over.
It was completely unrolled and flapping violently over the roof in the wind. All clamps were locked in place, BUT the awning lock lever was in the "down" position.
To get some protection from the wind, I had to make a U-turn and found a spot to park in the median near a bridge. We found it almost impossible to get the rear support to come loose but a frustrated yank finally did it. I never did figure out why it was stuck.
Since the awning roll-up strap was long gone and I did not have rope that would fit in the channel, we just raised it as high as we could by holding the support bars and then let go. It banged into a locked position, and has stayed in place for many miles since. No apparent damage to the mechanism.
We still have the awning and I did some patching to the frayed areas with Vinyl Liquid Patch and put some touch up paint on it. Seems the area around the refrigerator vent caused most of the damage.
We later surmised that it was probably due to the latch being down. Why? was the question we had. I really think it was due to a large snow overhang that fell off a few days before we left home. But it could have been those pesky squirrels racing along the edge of the RV. It also could have been knocked down by me while dragging a hose along during roof cleaning. At any rate, we are now somewhat paranoid about the latch, especially in strong winds. We did add it to our checklist too.
I'm glad this came up again and I think I will apply one of the "positive" prevention ideas presented. Thanks for the ideas and links.
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