Forum Discussion

Thunder_Mountai's avatar
Thunder_Mountai
Explorer II
Sep 15, 2017

Wondering about impact of Harvey and Irma

For the first time I had toyed with the idea of snowbirding on the Texas coast or south Florida. Needless to say we did a 180.

So, I called to make reservations in one of our usual AZ winter parks. Glad we called. The area we like is usually wide open in December. Had a heck of a time finding an acceptable spot. Reservationist said they were really filling up early.

That got me to wondering about the impact of the two hurricanes on snowbirds in Texas and Florida. I did do a check using rvparkreviews.com on areas around Rock Port, Corpus, the Keys and up the west coast of Florida. In the Keys I did a rough count of maybe 1,500 sites. Didn't try to do a count around Rock Port and CC but must be in the thousands. I just gave up. I know there is a full two months before peak season. Lots of work can be done and marginally damaged parks reopened, but...

My question is for those of you in snowbird in the affected areas. What can you report about what you know about your favorite parks?

Good thoughts to all of you who have been affected.
Snowbirds
  • Ralph_Cramden's avatar
    Ralph_Cramden
    Explorer II
    Sep 15, 2017
    azdryheat wrote:
    pawatt wrote:
    The 400 parks of the Rio Grande Valley were untouched by the hurricane and flooding. Come see what you are missing. Warmer, friendlier and greener than AZ.
    You're a moderator and you just slammed AZ and the people of AZ? Not a good thing to do; looks bad on your part. I've always been a strong supporter of TX and we vacation in TX. I would never talk down TX to build up AZ. Thanks for nothing, moderator.



    That's slamming? LOL:S


  • Dog_Trainer's avatar
    Dog_Trainer
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    Central Fl. dodged the bullet of the big winds that were expected. We spend winter s at Williston Crossings RV resort and we had minimal damage. I would expect this area to be full this winter as those areas hardest hit will be rebuilding for some time.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Sep 15, 2017
    In Florida you can forget the Keys and the Ft Myers area...yes many parks will be open with some of the buildings repaired, but it will still look like a bomb went off destroying the trees. I would be concerned for any parks from Ft Laud south and Sarasota south and possibly the Sebring area. The rest for Fla faired just fine although flooding on the ST Johns and Suwannee rivers could impact some parks. In the past I did not say you needed reservations in central and northern Fla, but this winter you better get them.

    Overall I would say Fla lucked out. Those in the Keys and Marco Island/Naples/Ft Myers would disagree with that statement as they were hit hard with 130+ mph winds. Of all the possible tracks, coming in at Marco Island (SW Fla) and continuing north over land was the best track resulting in less storm surge and quicker dissipation of hurricane force winds.

    Fortunately VIR in WPB where I spend the winter only had moderate damage to the foliage without trees coming down and none of the RVs damaged or moved.
  • John_Joey's avatar
    John_Joey
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    After being on this forum a few years it appears that not many snowbird members go to this area, or they choose not to be vocal about it on the internet. Maybe it's like having a good fishing hole. :)

    Here is a very popular RV park at ground zero and what they have to say: Clicky

    I think you'll find that the Texas way is to roll up your shirt sleeves and help your neighbor and not wait for FEMA or other government assistance. I'm expecting as fast of a recovery as is humanly possible.
  • azdryheat's avatar
    azdryheat
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    pawatt wrote:
    The 400 parks of the Rio Grande Valley were untouched by the hurricane and flooding. Come see what you are missing. Warmer, friendlier and greener than AZ.
    You're a moderator and you just slammed AZ and the people of AZ? Not a good thing to do; looks bad on your part. I've always been a strong supporter of TX and we vacation in TX. I would never talk down TX to build up AZ. Thanks for nothing, moderator.
  • sch911's avatar
    sch911
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    pawatt wrote:
    The 400 parks of the Rio Grande Valley were untouched by the hurricane and flooding. Come see what you are missing. Warmer, friendlier and greener than AZ.


    ^^^THIS!
  • pawatt's avatar
    pawatt
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    The 400 parks of the Rio Grande Valley were untouched by the hurricane and flooding. Come see what you are missing. Warmer, friendlier and greener than AZ.
  • Thunder_Mountai's avatar
    Thunder_Mountai
    Explorer II
    Sep 15, 2017
    rr2254545 wrote:
    Smart to call now I re-booked every thing from the Texas Gulf coast to West Texas two weeks ago

    Lots of the parks I was booked into were struck hard and I personally thought it would not be fun to see all the devastation on the coast


    I've been through too many disasters. None of them were fun. No disrespect intended.
  • rr2254545's avatar
    rr2254545
    Explorer
    Sep 15, 2017
    Smart to call now I re-booked every thing from the Texas Gulf coast to West Texas two weeks ago

    Lots of the parks I was booked into were struck hard and I personally thought it would not be fun to see all the devastation on the coast

About Campground 101

Recommendations, reviews, and the inside scoop from fellow travelers.14,716 PostsLatest Activity: Jun 18, 2019