The RV community unites under threats of severe weather

We were so glad to have made it to our campsite at Santee State Park, after a rather exasperating trip down to South Carolina. The scenery was beautiful and we finally felt at peace, with the water views and tall trees. Unfortunately, this was just one part of the story, because while we were there, Mother Nature wreaked havoc once again, and we, along with thousands of other RVers, faced our worst nightmare: Severe weather warnings.

Making the start of our reservation on time – Monday, January 8 – turned out to be not just convenient, but it kept us out of harm's way because the very next day, we were hit with multiple weather alerts. We know for a fact that, if we had gotten delayed by our repairs, we would not have been able to travel that Tuesday and we would have needed to delay our travels. Forecasts were predicting high winds, thunderstorms, and possible tornadoes. Because we were already parked at our site, we did what we always do:

Make note of the shelters

Our campground had several bathhouses that were well-built and did not have windows. Our camphost told us that they doubled as storm shelters. One of the most easily accessible shelters we've ever had at a campground, which gave us peace of mind.

Fill our tanks for extra weight

Our gray and black tanks had been recently emptied, but we were finally able to fill our fresh tank as much as we needed, now that all the brackets were sufficiently secured. If the winds got really strong, we could also hitch up our truck, but we did not think it would be necessary this time.

Check the surrounding trees

Because we were in a forested campsite, we made sure that no nearby trees looked dead, hollowed out, or uprooted. All the trees were very skinny, and even though we had some branches hanging right over our roof, they were not large enough to cause damage if they came down.

Keep an eye out the windows and in the apps

We have several apps and websites that we use to get our weather updates: AccuWeather, weather.com, and the Weather Radar app, to name a few. But sometimes the best thing we can do is watch and listen to what's happening out our window.

The morning predictions warned us of high winds and severe thunderstorms with possible hail and tornadoes. We were able to get a quick walk in before the storm hit, and after that we planned to hunker down and do work, unless we needed to leave and take shelter. We packed go-bags for us and the animals just in case we needed to make a quick exit, but even if we did, chances are we wouldn't get far anyway, as we were miles from the park exit, and the rain caused ruts in the campground roads as soon as it started pouring down.

By mid-day, the storm had blown a few branches down on our roof, but they were small enough that they caused no damage. The rain had become very heavy. Our highest number of advisories at one time was five: A severe thunderstorm warning, a tornado watch, a wind advisory, and two flood advisories. All but the wind advisory were set to expire by evening. I was able to film this quick video out our front door between gusts of wind.

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Most of our advisories expired early, and while we had some strong winds overnight, we came out of the storm mostly unscathed. We had to clear the branches off our roof, and our site and surrounding roads got a little flooded and rutted. We were lucky this time.

This was the outskirts of a storm system that was hitting parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle. Parts of the Panhandle were not so lucky. The towns most covered by the media were Marianna and Panama City, both located east of Destin. Photos of Marianna and Santa Rosa Beach RV parks began to surface.

Whenever storms like this rage through, the RV community immediately springs into action, checking on anyone we know in the affected area. We went on Instagram to get word of everyone's safety. Two of our Instagram friends who were in the central Panhandle opted to go to a hotel for the night. Our friends and fellow ATC owners Jessica and David were in the western part of the Panhandle, and they were hunkering down. The worst of the storm would happen for them overnight the night before it reached us.

After last hearing from Jessica the evening prior, I checked in the following morning to make sure everything was okay. We had gotten the news that Panama City and Marianna got slammed, and we were bracing for our impact up in SC. We waited on word from Jessica, when finally, we heard that they were okay, but the story didn't end there.

This is the scary side of RVing, where we need to battle extreme weather in a house with no foundation and no rooms to serve as shelters. There is a reason why the news outlets often cover RV parks, because the damage can be severe.

Jessica has been kind enough to share her experience in writing for the blog.

What preparations did you and David take to keep yourselves and your RV safe?
We were told we could take shelter in one of the bath houses at the campground in the event of a tornado warning. I honestly thought the weather forecasters were full of hype until I saw a notification that all of the schools in the county were scheduled to be closed the next day. It was too late to leave at that point. There was nowhere to go. David got the cat carriers ready. But he said he didn’t think we would need to use them. I was skeptically optimistic.

Walk our readers through what happened that night. What was the weather doing?
It was actually a tornado watch that was in effect. The weather was not anything significant other than lots of wind, lightning and some rain. Nothing scary. The tornado watch was for the overnight hours, so of course I had trouble sleeping, that is, until I had looked at my phone at 3am and saw that one of the county Facebook pages had posted that the tornado watch was “being allowed to expire”. I interpreted that as “no more danger” and fell asleep. Around 6am when I was drinking my coffee in bed with my cat is when things got wild. David came in and mentioned we had one last round on the radar to get through and then we’d be in the clear. We were both watching a great lightning show out the window. Suddenly debris started hitting the RV. It was loud. That was the turning point. We thought for sure that our toy hauler was damaged. We then felt the RV being lifted from under us. That intense part was over within seconds. And then it was incredibly calm, as if nothing happened. The power went out in the campground very quickly after everything stopped around us.

No one got any warning on their phone that this was going to happen. So obviously that means that no one could take precautions the way they might want to. If you or the other campers had gotten an official warning, would that have changed anything with how you would have responded?
I think we would have headed straight for the bath houses. I know some campers did take shelter there.They actually saw the tornado coming.

What was the aftermath like at the campground?
Thankfully, nobody was hurt and no RV’s were knocked onto their side or anything like that. There were lots of trees down. One took out a utility pole. Fences and cabins were damaged. One of the cabins was knocked off its foundation. We found benches from the pier that ended up in the water and scattered around the campground. One guy lost both of his awnings even though they weren’t even out at the time. We quickly discovered we weren’t the only ones whose RV was knocked out of place. David ended up helping some of our neighbors put their RV’s back into place and noticed one of those RV’s had a damaged tongue jack from the shift. There was so much debris. I actually found wood used for construction scattered all over our site. We still have no idea where it came from. I think
the only thing we lost was an RV tire cover.

When we spoke, you mentioned that the tornado was not actually registered as such, despite it clearly being a tornado. As far as you know, did this remain the case?
I haven’t looked into it, but several people have traced the path. I saw the damage it caused on that path, even outside of the park, and I don’t believe it could have been anything else. I also spoke with several other campers who witnessed it heading towards them.

What advice can you give to RVers if they find themselves in a similar situation?
Talk to others who are familiar with tornado prep and ask for tips. Have a plan. Locate the safest place to take shelter if needed. I grew up in New England where snow was our biggest concern. This was all new to me and I learned from
this experience that I need to be better prepared (and not sit in front of windows).

Big thanks to Jessica for sharing her experience. The great thing about being part of the RV community is that we all look out for each other, and we share the lessons we learn along our journeys. These extreme weather incidents have shown us that we need to take severe weather seriously and always have a safety plan, even when we think the worst won't happen to us. RVers must contend with nature differently than most people, but we also reap the reward of experiencing nature at its best – its beauty, grandeur, and awe – right from our front door. It's one of the trade-offs of living the RV life.