where to go during bad storms

pnichols wrote:
If you have a self-powered RV (not a TT or 5'er) so you can move fast, and it's during the day, and you have a few minutes warning ... I'd get in and drive away from the storm area. Why not save both yourself and the rig if at all possible.

Otherwise, get out of your RV ASAP and seek a place specifically set up for personal safety.

This is not a good option--at least not in Oklahoma. During the last set of tornadoes that struck El Reno, OKC, etc., there were several people (including a mother and an infant adn three veteran storm chasers) who were killed when their car was picked up off of the interstate and thrown by the tornado. It was absolute gridlock on the interstates in that area--there was rush hour traffic, plus some people were fleeing the area in their vehicles because they didn't have a storm shelter. (After the Moore tornado a few days earlier, I can understand the panic.) Most people who live in tornado alley know not to get into a car when a tornado is coming. If you are in a car or towing and a tornado is coming, then you are safer in a ditch. Did you see photos of the remains of the car used by Tim Samaras and the other two storm chasers who were killed in that tornado? It was crushed like a tin can--totally unrecognizable as a car. Cars and semis are no match for a moderate-strength tornado. If you are in an RV park, then it is better to find shelter in a reinforced structure (like a concrete bathhouse) if severe weather is coming.

sowego wrote:
If you are in an RV park...ask the manager if they have a shelter on the premises or if one is nearby.

Best answer yet. If I am checking in at an area that is expecting bad weather I always ask where the storm shelter is located.

If you have a self-powered RV (not a TT or 5'er) so you can move fast, and it's during the day, and you have a few minutes warning ... I'd get in and drive away from the storm area. Why not save both yourself and the rig if at all possible.

Otherwise, get out of your RV ASAP and seek a place specifically set up for personal safety.

If you are in an RV park...ask the manager if they have a shelter on the premises or if one is nearby.

Reader1 wrote:

Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:
Here in GA most campgrounds don't have an underground shelter, but the bathhouses are very sturdy usually. Only once have we weathered a really bad storm in our rig--a pop-up, at that. It was one of the most harrowing experiences ever and when it cleared we found a tree about 6-7 feet from the PUP that was split right down the middle from a lightning strike! Since then, we have ridden out storms or tornado warnings in the bathhouse.

Do you remember when this happened? I ask because 25+ years ago we were in Georgia when a terrifying storm came through. I was in the laundry facility but DH had to get the kids out of the pop-up and into the van. They laid down on the floor while he drove away from trees, he didn't belt them in and did not go out on the road. He thought they were safer away from the windows on the floor. He still talks about this as being one of the worst storms he's experienced.

It was either the summer of 2010 or 2011. We can really get some bad storms in the spring and summer. Just in the last several years we have had to evacuate to the basement in our house several times while tornadoes roared over the house and through the neighborhoods near us.

Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:
Here in GA most campgrounds don't have an underground shelter, but the bathhouses are very sturdy usually. Only once have we weathered a really bad storm in our rig--a pop-up, at that. It was one of the most harrowing experiences ever and when it cleared we found a tree about 6-7 feet from the PUP that was split right down the middle from a lightning strike! Since then, we have ridden out storms or tornado warnings in the bathhouse.

Do you remember when this happened? I ask because 25+ years ago we were in Georgia when a terrifying storm came through. I was in the laundry facility but DH had to get the kids out of the pop-up and into the van. They laid down on the floor while he drove away from trees, he didn't belt them in and did not go out on the road. He thought they were safer away from the windows on the floor. He still talks about this as being one of the worst storms he's experienced.

Here in GA most campgrounds don't have an underground shelter, but the bathhouses are very sturdy usually. Only once have we weathered a really bad storm in our rig--a pop-up, at that. It was one of the most harrowing experiences ever and when it cleared we found a tree about 6-7 feet from the PUP that was split right down the middle from a lightning strike! Since then, we have ridden out storms or tornado warnings in the bathhouse.

This topic is right on for this time of year. The one thing I think EVERY rv'er should have is a weather radio. I have one that automatically scans for the nearest NOAA channel. This is important to me simply because a lot of places I camp I can't pick up tv or radio stations. There's nothing worse than a bad storm surprising you in the middle of the night.
Also during storm season I develop a storm game plan as soon as I get settled in just in case.

TyroneandGladys wrote:
IMHO monitor the weather if they issue a Tornado Watch or Severe Thunderstorm Watch in the area you are in drive out of the area ASAP. DO NOT drive if you are in a Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

A good idea generally for travel planning, since they now have 2-3 days notice on this type of Watch forecast. Don't go where it is going to happen, if you have no reason to be there. But driving out can be easier said than done.

Last night's Tornado Watch zone was 300-400 miles on width along a line 1200 minutes long, and covered all or part of at least 12 states. Oklahoma City to somewhere beyond Toledo.

Watch area was the same size the night before, but further west, and will be the same size tonight, further east. Over a week, the Severe Thunderstorm Watch area for this weather system will have covered most of the country between the Rockies and the Appalachians.