Bad Weather hiding places

[Tiffensdad]

DW asked me yesterday after watching the news about tornados in Virginia, where we are headed, what we do in the event we encounter one. I got to thinking, in all the years of rving I have done, the closest I have come to any really bad weather was to chase a tornado/hailstorm north while in ND once and being snowed in in Portland Ore.
So my question is: in the event that you are/or about to be in a extreme weather event, what do you do? Actully expand that question to what to do in a campground, and when traveling.
I would perfer my luck remained as it has, but I would like to be a little more prepared and DW will most certainly not let the subject go until I have more answers.

[H. John Kohl]

The honest answer is nothing but batten down the hatches (most the time). While in Fl. this past winter we had two severe weather warnings. The first we packed everything up. The second we picked up most loose stuff. I guess it comes down to the "sky is falling" mentality or it will not happen to us. With that feeling eventually we will be one of the ones caught. Your post is a good one and like the Emergency grab topic we should prepare and be ready but then it won't happen to us mentality does step in.
Like insurance, should of had more when we need it and why pay for it because I have not needed it in the past.
Thanks for the post and I will be interested in the other replies.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

High wind conditions, pick up stuff that will fly around and hit next RV, etc.

Really high wind, some will pull in their slides and sit it out that way, we have not done that yet, but have come close. Will do that while we are home and living in the stick built, figure why NOT??

Tornado warnings, where you are in line of fire. Get OUT! Find a block building, hopefully the bathhouses are built that way, and get to one.

Ask the campground hosts, managers, owners, what is the plan for such an event. They might not be real happy when you ask, (been there, done that), and might even tell you, tornados never hit here, DUHHHHHH, if they don't have an emergency plan, then you are left to figure out the best place to be.

Educate yourself on emergency actions, what you should do in an event. Not sure, but the Weather channel sure has a lot of stuff on that, maybe they have something online??

Be aware of the weather situations, so that you know something is amiss and you can act, NOT react to same.

Get a weather radio, and ALWAYS have it on and ALWAYS have it tuned to the correct county. If you are not connected to the right station (not sure that is what they call them, but you get the idea), then it cannot warn you of impending trouble.

[Waynem]

As we all know, protection of life is much more important than protection of property. Property can be replaced. Carol hit it right on finding a strong structure to take cover in. Most of what you read for preparing for a tornado cannot be done when you are in an RV. Seek shelter.

Some ideas,
*Safety film for covering the windows. (Also deters theft - different subject)
*Put loose property away
*Turn the gas off
*Get to the lowest point of your stick house (RV??? Can't do)
*If in a vehicle, get out and get in a ditch if possible. You cannot out run a tornado.
*If you live in a mobile home, leave it and find shelter somewhere. This assumes you are preparing before it is close. Designate a shelter and route it.
*Contrary to popular belief, leave the windows closed.

If you search on tornado preparation you will get all kinds of hits.

Check this out

Read the part about RV's by some of the readers.

[bw2]

We experienced a severe storm/potential tornado in southern Indiana a couple of years ago. We closed up the unit, turned off the water, electricity, and the gas and headed for the shower house. We spent almost an hour waiting for the storm to pass. Try to stay away from windows, the flying glass is a real concern. If we have this again, we will take a chair to sit on and a better radio. The stress of not knowing was very real.

[Emmel]

Got to agree with Carol also and say that a weather radio is the best protection you can carry in your unit. When you check into the cg, ask what county you are in and then you can be prepared to move to the block shower house if they have one. If you don't know the county then you don't know how close the bad weather is to you.
Being an "old" boy scout, you have to try to "be prepared"
Right now in our area, News Center 7 and Krogers are selling radios at half price in their effort to make sure people are prepared since we live in an area where tornadoes are prevalent.

[Sunshine]

Cabela's campground in Sidney, NE has a sign on the office wall that in the event of a tornado, go to the concrete bath house at the campground. That info came to mind one night when tornado sirens went off when we were in an RV park in Lincoln, NE. Had it been necessary, we would have headed for the bath house, which also was located in a low spot of the park. Agree with Carol that checking with park personnel is a good idea, especially in areas prone to severe weather.

[krtam]

Having been born and raised in southern California, this is an excellent topic since I have never experienced any weather like you are describing. As our travels in our Montana become more and more wide spread these are good things to know. Thankfully Kevin was born and raised in Indiana so he has more sense about these topics. I remember several years ago visiting relatives in the mid-west there was a tornado warning. I turned to my husband and said what do you do if a tornado is coming at you and you are drivng down the road. Like Waynem said, Kevin said, you pull over and lay down in a ditch. I turned to him and said, no really what do you do? So, as you can see I didn't have a clue!! Good ideas about checking with campground personnel and scoping out a block building.

Sharon

[MacDR50]

Since we are on the topic of weather, if you ever visit our fair Province (Newfoundland and Labrador) pay heed to any wind warning for the Trans Canada Highway. There is a stretch of highway that crosses through an area known as "Wreckhouse". It got the name from the strong winds that are found here during stormy weather that reach hurricane force. They have blown over locomotives and train cars, tractor trailers and unfortunately the odd RV. For you wether trivia buffs I have given a link that gives some history and explanation for the winds.

http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/wreckhouse.pdf

[Bill-N-Donna]

Back when we had the M/H, I had installed a CB mostly for when traveling. It had a switch that when used would pick up the weather. I thought that was a nice feature, but as one of the previous posters mentioned you still need to know where you are at.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Knowing where you are at, suggest looking at Microsoft Streets and Trips, if you have it on your computer, click in the name of the town you are staying at, and then zoom in and out, and you can see the names of the counties. Figure out what is around you, north, south, east and west.

On stormy nights, I have been know to have on computer, weather bug, weather radio, telie, and have as many maps out and spread out as I have available.

Don't be surprised if the campground personal don't want to discuss emergency plans with you. They are not all smart enough to realize they are not going to scare us if they tell us! SIGH and DUHHHH

Be a scout, be prepared.

[noneck]

Ok...Here's one reflection on this topic. Setting is pristine Atlantic coast of Virgina, National Seashore campground, Assateague Island.

DW and I were enjoying the late August summer 2006 when we heard of a storm brewing. Made several trips to the Rangers station and were told not a big deal as these things just pass by....right first mistake have someone shore up your fears of a pending "hit".
Ok, so storm hugs coast (Murphy thingy seems to always find me), we travel to Ranger station to find...no one...return to RV and listen to Nascar scanner for local police, fire reports and discover there is a High vehicle warning issued for highways. Ok, now not leaving and its not gonna just pass us by? Reflection on this, pack it in (before vehicle warning) and leave. This is a hard decision to make but after a couple of weather reports its time to believe! I agree with John on this...our tendency is to feel comfortable and that gets us into a wait and see when suddenly we are now trapped.
Sat through Ernesto August 2006 on a small barrier island called Assateague Island which historically has endured many storms but is now much smaller.

I do not have a simple rule for my friends to use...but want to make the statement that I was LUCKY and did not sleep for 24 hrs of continuous pounding with 60 - 70 mph sustained winds, pacing from front to back of this rig. Slides were left out, did not have the slide toppers at that time, watched the back window was flexing but...nothing was damaged, won't do that again!

[MacDR50]

I can readily empathize with the flexing window. My last house faced the Atlantic. We had a easterly Gale one night and I couldn't sleep. The picture window in the front room was bending in and then returning out. I put my hand on it and felt the movement. My mind switched to sensible mode and suggested "You should be somewhere else not in front of this window". I have taken good note of this thread and the good advise.

[Tiffensdad]

Well got a chance to try out the advice last Thursday. Had the weather radio, knew what the CG recommended for shelter, also where the brick baths were. Had local TV to track storm etc.... Touchdown within 10 miles of us in Advance NC. Luckily the CG was not effected that time but sure felt better knowing everything I did in case we had to bug out.

The CG host told me that in his 9 years of running that CG, he has only had 2 other requests for information on what to do in case of severe weather. Guess most people don't see a need?

Thanks all for your input...

[Exnavydiver]

Last year in March I believe it was, we were in Buxton, NC on the outerbanks (Hatteras). We had been there about three days when we got word that a Nor'easter was coming our way. Normally I would have stayed put but the astronomic high tide was due the same day. High tide was not till 6pm that day, we left at noon. We got a few miles north around Avon ,NC and the water on the bayside of the road was 9 inches from the road. This was at noon, high tide due at 6pm. The road washed over around 2pm and was closed for 4 days. Glad we left when we did, we could have stayed but would have missed the daughters 18th birthday. I lived for 17 years in Virginia Beach and spend almost 200 weekends at Hatteras. I know how the storms can be and have stayed when I shouldn't have, losing tents and other equipment and having one drowned Jeep (don't ask). If there is a concrete building near by go there but make sure it won't get flooded from storm surge. Best bet if on a barrier island when bad weather is approaching---LEAVE!