What to do if you are faced with a natural disaster while in your TT

[WASABI]

As a newbie, I really never gave it much thought until I read that evacuation post earlier.

What DO you do if you come into a direct tornado warning while in your TT at a camping site. I assumed you would just hide in your trailer and wait it out. WRONG.

So can all of you seasoned RV vets out there chime in....what should we do. Fire, tornado...any scenario you can add, that would be grrrreat

[StephenK]

Fire 1 hour away, we've practiced "emergency departure". Fire coming faster, cats in the truck, couple of photos of the camper and get going. Tornado or fast winds, grab the cats, pictures if time, run, don't drive for shelter. In all cases, first thing I do in a new park is find a solid, heavy-weather building. Hurricane, you'll have plenty of time but always keep the tow vehicle with as much fuel as possible. Blizzard, (why are you in blizzard country, but) re-supply food and propane, batten down. Don't try to tow in heavy, falling snow. Been there, done that, very scary, white-knuckle ride. Flood, if you are in a flood plain (what was a beautiful view of the river), hitch and run. Running away from a natural disaster is easier if your co-pilot has a GPS (unit or phone) and can navigate an escape route while you focus on driving.

[WASABI]

Originally Posted by StephenK

Fire 1 hour away, we've practiced "emergency departure". Fire coming faster, cats in the truck, couple of photos of the camper and get going. Tornado or fast winds, grab the cats, pictures if time, run, don't drive for shelter. In all cases, first thing I do in a new park is find a solid, heavy-weather building. Hurricane, you'll have plenty of time but always keep the tow vehicle with as much fuel as possible. Blizzard, (why are you in blizzard country, but) re-supply food and propane, batten down. Don't try to tow in heavy, falling snow. Been there, done that, very scary, white-knuckle ride. Flood, if you are in a flood plain (what was a beautiful view of the river), hitch and run. Running away from a natural disaster is easier if your co-pilot has a GPS (unit or phone) and can navigate an escape route while you focus on driving.

Great post!! Thank you

[WASABI]

Now THIS is scary!

Tornado at Cherrystone Campground, Cape Charles, Virginia
Here is the link to the news clip.
http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-...stone-20140724

[Chalkie]

We were recently at a campground in Amarillo, TX. There is a tornado siren right at the entrance. They have a shower/toilet building that is the designated tornado shelter as it is all concrete construction. They told us that a couple of days before we got there that they had had to evacuate people to that building twice during one night. As a result of that offered information from the campground, we now ask for that information when we check in somewhere.

[hddecker]

If your are on the road and see a toronado coming at you, look for the first exit you can find that has an underpass, get in there, and hold on tight. Trying to outrun a toronado is like playing Russian Roulet with 3 bullets in the cylinder. Alot of people have died trying.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by hddecker

If your are on the road and see a toronado coming at you, look for the first exit you can find that has an underpass, get in there, and hold on tight. Trying to outrun a toronado is like playing Russian Roulet with 3 bullets in the cylinder. Alot of people have died trying.

Underpass is not a good place to be, acts like a wind tunnel and accelerates the wind and debris impact. Best bet is to pull over and lay in the roadside ditch. Rigs can be replaced lives can't.

We ALWAYS have a plan B and C, and always acess the risk of any given situation. I have spent most of my working life in a high risk job field, so much of it has become second nature.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Underpass is not a good place to be, acts like a wind tunnel and accelerates the wind and debris impact. Best bet is to pull over and lay in the roadside ditch. Rigs can be replaced lives can't.

We ALWAYS have a plan B and C, and always acess the risk of any given situation. I have spent most of my working life in a high risk job field, so much of it has become second nature.

Aaron

I guess it's a good thing that the tornados that we saw between Gillette and Sheridan WY didn't head our way. We were on our way home from Milwaukee, we stopped at a cafe and one of the locals told us to watch for tornados and if one was headed our way, head for an underpass, there was one every mile.

Now that you jogged my memory, I do recall since then, I have heard that the bottom of the ditch is the place to be.

Either way I'm just happy that we didn't have to use either.