Disaster: 4th of July Boondocking, Badlands

[ppine]

Sounds like a micro-burst, a phenomenon associated with advection from strong thunderstorms. Glad you are okay.

[Carolem]

Originally Posted by stormer

No water damage, thankfully. Our storage compartment latch got beat up and broke on the wind side. (on the kitchen slide facing the wind). I had it duct taped for a week. I just fixed it yesterday. Just a little tweaking of the mechanism and it's all fixed.


James

So glad no water damage!

[RET.LEO]

Originally Posted by dward51

I have a question. In a situation like this, would it be better to keep the truck hitched up?

Extra weight of truck to prevent shifting and lifting of the trailer and 4 (or 6 if a dually) more contact points to the ground. I'm thinking if you have the info of wind direction and are boondocking with little other options, hook up and point the truck/trailer into the wind with the truck facing first would give the most resistance to lift or flipping of the trailer. This would be assuming you have enough prior notice and the space to orient the truck/trailer into the wind direction. I would think hook up with WD engaged and re-deploy the stabalizers for as many contact points to resist wind shifting as possible (WD would tend to make the truck & trailer act like one unit as it's supposed to). And pull in the slideouts to give as little a flat surface exposed to the wind as possible

The other camper was truly lucky! Glad every one survived what could have been a very bad situation.

There's no right, wrong or best except: any warning try to get to a shelter if possible. For a good old windstorm I would stay hitched up..........for a tornado.........doesn't make any difference. Son who is a MO State Trooper arrived in Joplin the evening of their disaster. He was there for two weeks, some of the sights he saw will never leave his mind. Worse was bodies laying in the street.
Head for shelter..............if it's safe and if you can.
A vehicle of any type is a death trap in a tornado.

[MoonStomper]

We had camped on the Wall in the spot just 50' past the camper that got hammered on June 29th. Then on June 30 we dodged a hailstorm on our way to Custer State Park for the next four nights. Had a tornado warning on the 3rd I think while camped at Sylvan Lake CG. On July 5th we got caught while rock climbing in a big hail and lightning storm 5 pitches up on Devils Tower. That was interesting. A lot of folks chose to rappel off as it hit. We just hung tight on our anchor at a pretty good ledge and shivered! The temperature dropped about 30 degrees and we could feel one of the lightening strikes. Watching and hearing that one suddenly come in from behind us was pretty exciting. Never forget it.

[stormer]

Originally Posted by MoonStomper

We had camped on the Wall in the spot just 50' past the camper that got hammered on June 29th. Then on June 30 we dodged a hailstorm on our way to Custer State Park for the next four nights. Had a tornado warning on the 3rd I think while camped at Sylvan Lake CG. On July 5th we got caught while rock climbing in a big hail and lightning storm 5 pitches up on Devils Tower. That was interesting. A lot of folks chose to rappel off as it hit. We just hung tight on our anchor at a pretty good ledge and shivered! The temperature dropped about 30 degrees and we could feel one of the lightening strikes. Watching and hearing that one suddenly come in from behind us was pretty exciting. Never forget it.

grief! you were stuck on devils tower? lol, your no stranger to danger!

[myxkp]

Wow, that would have scared the puddin out o me.

[MoonStomper]

We heard thunder, that was the first sign. Our route was on the Southeast face so we couldn't see the storm approach. It was moving fast! The lead climber had just neared the anchor and number two was about to start. As he finished the pitch I heard the wind begin to rush through the trees at the base and that was wild to see. As I started up and began pulling gear from the rock the first drops really started. As soon as I reached the anchor the hail began. Looking down we couldn't see the trees anymore, just a conveyor belt of hail, clouds and rain wrapping around the base of the tower. Did I mention the lightening, and the temperature drop? The raw and edgy sound of that thunder I'll never forget!

[DFW Rusty]

I am glad to hear that no on got hurt or worse in the OP's story.....

There is a saying- Happier than a tornado in a trailer park.


I will say from experience I do not stay in our camper when S#@* storms roll through. Here in North Texas we had a lot of nasty pop up storms last month and it was hard to keep up with when they were hitting or how bad they will be. We got caught in one while staying in our camper on our land and I about lost it. We had 65+ mph winds hitting us broad side at 11 at night. Wife woke me up saying she heard a big crash and the camper was shaking horribly! Each of us grabbed a kid to run to the truck with and when we opened the door the pic below is what we saw..... My smoker cover blew over on my truck. We hunkered down and wrapped the kids up in blankets and had to wait it out.... that was the most miserable 1 hour of my life.


We've bailed from the camper a hand full of times and each time we return to an upright camper, but IMO it's not worth the risk, especially with kids. I say the same thing to my wife each time "I refuse to be that family on the news that got blown away in the storm cuz they decided to stay in the box full of air". I'll either take my chances in my truck or if were at a camp ground we high tail it to the bathrooms.

[RET.LEO]

One of the least worries in a thunderstorm is lightning if your RV is either aluminum skin or has a aluminum substructure. They help to produce what is known as a "Faraday Cage" which is a electromagnetic shield caused by the continuous conductive materials surrounding the RV

[BluStreek]

We were stopped in Wall, SD on the 4th of July 2018 for two right stay (M-B Sprinter Class C had ABS/engine codes while visiting Custer SP, and we didn't want to be stranded on the highway on the 4th as the nearest dealer (warranty) was in Sioux Falls and 300 miles and 4 plus hours away. So, we bed down after dark, and just as we are falling asleep, BAM!... I thought someone drove into our RV. Nope... wind gust of hurricane proportions and wild rain and aligned with the slide side of our rig. Violent shaking went on for nearly an hour. To the West towards Rapid City was a southern horizon to northern horizon continuous (so it seemed) natural 'fireworks" show for well over an hour. Spectacular and we were fortunate not to be in the way of any flying debris or tree limbs. Never, ever seen so much lightning in the sky! Most of the intense lightning missing us to the west of Wall.

Limped away next day, with the codes clearing eventually, and as a result cruise control returning an hour or so on our homeward (east) drive on I-90. Just made a beeline home in NJ from there, except for a couple of hours at the AMA HQ and museum in Muncie, IN and the Wright-Patterson AFB museum (Spectacular!!!) near Dayton with two transiting stop nights in the process.

Scary experience for sure, and you were much closer to the "action"... but looks typical for out there this time of year! We were lucky to get only the "show" and no damage.


I doubt a lot of the RVs out there offer much faraday cage protection and I don't think we're anything other than fiberglass over a wood skin/frame. More TT's are metal skinned, methinks.


Always a pucker in a storm. Two years ago a mammoth cherry tree came crashing down in an early August storm while camping on the Eastern shore of Lake Ontario... missed 3 or 4 rigs... we were just beyond the upper canopy branches. No doubt fatalities would have ensued as the trunk was about 2 feet thick, and luckily it missed the campers by only a couple of feet as it fell perpendicular to the camp sites. no doubt there was soiled laundry in the adjoining sites!

[judyoshi]

Definitely scary stuff. I am working in the Badlands since April, living in my Class C. There have been some nasty storms. The sound of hail on your roof, RV rocking in the wind makes for a rough night. That was a particularly bad night. My car was stuck in the mud at the rodeo grounds in Interior so I caught a ride in the van transporting employees to their housing. We had to shelter in place in the van in back of Lodge for quite a while until it was safe to drive. Have thought about taking the RV up to that location on days off but will not do so now. It's been a rough storm season.

Judyoshi

[myxkp]

Originally Posted by judyoshi

Definitely scary stuff. I am working in the Badlands since April, living in my Class C. There have been some nasty storms. The sound of hail on your roof, RV rocking in the wind makes for a rough night. That was a particularly bad night. My car was stuck in the mud at the rodeo grounds in Interior so I caught a ride in the van transporting employees to their housing. We had to shelter in place in the van in back of Lodge for quite a while until it was safe to drive. Have thought about taking the RV up to that location on days off but will not do so now. It's been a rough storm season.

Judyoshi

Living in Ca comes with a lot of misconceptions. There's no danger of falling off into the ocean. Truth is L.A. is headed for San Francisco. So if I can swing the cost of long term camping in L.A.; couple thousand years from now my offspring will have a choice L.A./S.F. site. Come on out if the weather gets too much for you there.

[judyoshi]

For now I'm hoping to work seasonally in as many National or State Parks as I can for as long as I can. This is my first season, gave up nursing in March to see if I can make a go of this lifestyle. So far I enjoy it and am looking for a winter position in a state with no or very low income tax. Learning as I go.

Judyoshi