When to pull in slides or evacuate with wind?

I've camped through tropical storms before but don't recommend it.

We've been in 70 - 80 mph winds blowing against the curb side of the motorhome during a freak 20 minute storm, what the national weather service called a Macroburst Storm. The camper didn't move (we use stablizes on each corner of the house, not the frame).

The only reason I brought the curb side slide in was because I was worried about tree branches failing on top and damaging it. We had large, downed branches all around the camper, but fortunately none hit the camper.

Edited to add:

If we had received accurate warning from the National Weather Service, we all would have evacuated for that storm. The wife and kids were tired of being in the camper during thunderstorms (this was the 4th storm in a week), so they left. I stayed with the camper. The NWS was calling for a severe thunder storm. No mention of high winds and certainly no mention of a "Macroburst". We were without power for 5 days after that storm. Took the county about 4 months to completely clear up all the downed trees .

-Michael

When we travel we look at the weather for the next 5 days so we know in advance of wind or bad weather. We don't drive when it's bad weather or windy. When parked and wind is 45 mph we put in the slides. We have our weather radio on all the time. We evacuate when our weather radio says Severe Storm Warning with damaging winds (55+ mph) and of course Tornado Warning. Recently in FL the weather radio announcement said Severe Thunderstorm Warning with winds of 60 mph and some gusts higher. In that statement it said that the wind could damage roofs, siding and damage mobile homes. When they say that and it's coming our way, we leave.

Was at Carlsbad NM last spring with 60mph winds forecasted. Pulled the slides in to protect the toppers. Trailer never felt like it was a problem but we were also lined up side by side with 15 others in two rows. Never felt like tipping.

slide topper flapping. maybe 40mph. pulled in slide.. Done.

trailer is not going anywhere.. except over 80 mph... my opinion. but then it depends on the weight of trailer... or if 5th wheeler.. very high profile.

Slide topper getting thrashed about is the only reason we have pulled the slide in. Never felt any concern that the trailer would flip.

No specific wind speed as it depends a lot on the wind direction. We've had some pretty strong winds where the topper hardly moved because the body of the trailer was sheltering it.

John&Joey wrote:
Been in winds up to 70mph with no problems. It was a rocking an rolling and just a little unnerving. Never felt like it would flip.

Same here......broadsided us.

Small slide out was tilting so we just sat on the couch until wind died down.

If it had been a real concern we would have just retracted slide


Common sense should prevail

When to pull in slides or evacuate with wind?

If parked, when in doubt, 'evacuate the RV'.

Tom Sawyer CG, Memphis When tornadoes went thru.

I moved from my site and went back 6 rows off the river.

I saw my neighbors trailer flip over.

I saw the other neighbors awning that he was trying to get in flip up and repeatedly slam into the entire side of his trailer. Some guy took a knife and cut the awning to stop it from further damaging his trailer.

A big bus DP stayed on the river proudly claiming that their RV was safe and that we were all overreacting. The winds picked it up and slammed it down and a tree limb crushed into the roof. When it was all over they were in shock.

My MH lifted up and all the other campers stuff flew under it. They had to jack up my MH to get all the stuff out from underneath it.

I took the mattress and laid it down in the front between the couch and dinette with the mattress over me and the dogs. It was THE most terrifying experience. NEVER again will I stay in an RV in bad weather!

Next time I will get into my toad and drive as fast as I can AWAY from all the RV's. :W

We take the trailer out to a new location if the wind is forecast to be 60 or above.

Kind of depends upon what type of RV you have, where you are parked, and which direction the camper is facing.

A 40 mph wind can turn over a travel trailer if the wind is directly against its side. The same camper can take a 100 mph wind head on, or rear on and not affect anything. After all, they all are designed to travel down the road at 70-80 mph. That's a head-on 70-80 mph wind hitting them... all.

If the stablizer jacks are down, they can take a stronger side wind. If you are surrounded by trees, the wind will be blocked. If you are on an ocean beach, a strong side wind may topple you over.

I think it all just "depends" on lots of things.

But the most important of all .... if you have any doubts ... any at all ... get out and leave the camper. It's not worth staying in it. Let insurance buy you a new one if it gets damaged!

I park my TT at home. It faces East - West. I live in the country surrounded by corn and bean fields. The winds get up to 40-50 mph here, 90% of the time, blowing from West to East. I keep all my jacks down and tight. I keep my slides in all the time, unless we're actually using it, or doing a drive-way camp. (this helps protect the roofs of the slides, keeping them out of the sun as much as possible). I keep the wheels chocked all the time, and I'm on a fairly level alsphalt driveway. My camper has never moved.

The previous owner had a 5er, parked in the same spot. High wind came through here once on him. The wind picked up his 5er, flipped it and it landed in the front yard. I say this, because with the right precautions, they CAN take a lot of wind. But you have to park them "smart" too!

EDIT! If a hurricaine was heading my direction, and I had warning, I'd pack up and get out of that location as FAST as I possibly could ... no doubts about that at all. You don't play games with Mother Nature.... you just don't.