Boondocking in a natural disaster

[mountainborn]

Events last week have Betty and I talking about how we might have been better prepared and we are wondering how others might have handled our situation. Here is a link to the photos, story and the channel 11 news report. Your input would be great !

Campers cut off on the lakehttp://olivertraveltrailers.com/big-storm-on-the-lake/

[D___M]

GordonThree wrote:
With an RV and tow, why stick around for a disaster? sounds like a perfect excuse to skip work for a few weeks / months and do some camping.

I was thinking to myself if my isolated northern town ever has another big wind storm, I'll grab my generators, credit cards, dog and hit the road in the RV! My house and its contents mean little to me, it's just stuff, all my important documents, family photos and movies are backed up online.

x2. If the natural disaster is so big that you can't find some place that's normal, you got big problems. You should have decided to be a preper.

[mountainborn]

HANDBASKET makes a good point about chainsaw size and I think I like the pole saw idea really well. My current saw is one that I carried into retirement from fifteen years or so ago. It is a Jonsered professional model that has a engine large enough to require a compression release for starting. It is a bit much of a saw now that I am well up into my 70's.
I wonder what kind of "home owner's" size saw's RVer's are carrying ?

[OldRadios]

Gas and water tanks always full. Stocked with dry/storable food and drinking water. Clothes and tools just for bugging out. If we have to we can just jump in and go. One of the reasons we bought it. For winter I'm putting in cut over switches and connection on the house to run our house furnace and fridge off the RV gen.

[Handbasket]

mountainborn wrote:
....
Are there others that carry a chainsaw ?

I've got a small electric saw that I carry in the RV, and the built-in Onan to power it. It's the business end of a pruning rig. I stuff its pole under the couch if I go seriously boondocking, but have never needed it. Biggest issue is keeping the bar oil from leaking. Also got the stuff for sharpening it. The 18" Husquvarna stays in the pickup.

I keep the Tiger gassed up, LP at least 1/2 full, and 1/2 full water except in winter. Even in winter, I keep several gallon water jugs in it, sitting in the sinks and a bucket in case they burst or leak. Canned food & a few sodas kept stocked over winter goes into Ziplock bags, top left partly open, as a freeze precaution. I can survive for a while on Spam, instant grits & oatmeal, ramen noodles, and instant coffee, all of which I keep in the Tiger.

I haven't had to use the Tiger as a bug-out vehicle, but I have used the previous class B's generator to keep the house reefer, Tv, and 'puter going for about 2 days after a power outage. I also used that RV for a water supply when the remnants of two hurricanes swept out city water supply line away.

Jim, "I had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met."

[mountainborn]

Our part of the USA has lots of timber and weather, quakes or fire can bring them down, blocking the road.
In this event the trees were the main factor. We happened to have a chainsaw with us for cutting firewood for the campfire.
Are there others that carry a chainsaw ?

[mountainborn]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
"There's a tree on the other side of us."
Nice.

Yeah, I know, My Sweetie is 5' tall and she was worried if she could get out of our fiver if it was on it's side because she couldn't reach the door. We were worried, for sure !
A heavy Oak forest runs right up to the edge of the lake at that point. We were backed in between the trees so our rear living room picture window looked out over the lake. It was close enough of a fit that the slides have to come in so we can clear the trees.

[Carb_Cleaner]

"There's a tree on the other side of us."
Nice.

[wintersun]

I lost my house in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake so have some perspective but earthquakes which tend to occur in any given area about every 50 years. Earthquakes do not happen year after year and they are not occuring with increasing intensity and there are seldom oil well drilling and fracking induced earthquakes that compared to the damage to states like LA and AL with the canals dug by the oil companies that contributed so much to the devastation that resulted from Katrina.

If I was going to live in such an area I would have my house jacked up 8 feet and use the space below it for my getaway vehicles. If natural gas was available in the area I would pay the $3k to get a generator installed as seldom is the flow of natural gas interrupted but electrical power often is lost of days or weeks or with the black areas of New Orleans, for months.

Cash is also important as with power down stores will not be able to process credit cards but will continue to take cash. Gas pumps need electrical power so having full fuel tanks in the cars and RV's may help.

If you add a small amount of bleach to the fresh water tank in the RV and to any 5 gallon drinking water containers at your house the water will be drinkable for up to 12 months.

[IAMICHABOD]

Like D. E. Bishop and Golden, I live in Earth Quake country.
I spent most of 15 years Boondocking so I always keep the RV stocked with dry goods and water. After every trip I would make sure it was fueled, water refilled and all perishables were removed and the dry goods restocked. I always drained and refilled my fresh water tank every 60 days if it had not been moved, assuring that I had fresh water.

I have my Class C parked here at home as I did with my old Class A.
And no, My house will not fall on my RV

That way if we lose power or water as we did in the Quake of 1994 we are prepared.

It is also nice to know that I can help my neighbors like I did then,with the generator running I managed to run lines to 2 houses so that they had some power to keep their food cold and we had TV to keep us all updated on everything.

[wintersun]

Primary problem will be drinkable water and best option is to carry around a pint of household bleach. The bleach can be used to treat whatever water you put into the RV.

1 teaspoon of bleach for every 5 gallons of water is all that is needed to kill the bacteria. Use 1 teaspoon for each 10 gallons of good water to keep it good if you plan to store it ahead of time in case of a disaster.

Good to plan ahead as these "natural" disasters are going to continue to occur with greater frequency. The coastal states and especially Alabama are vulnerable and for the most part their governors have their heads up where the sun does not shine.

[D_E_Bishop]

Like Golden we live here in EQ central and hopefully we'll be able to get the MoHo to the house from storage. We have supplies and we have obligations. The couple across the street are in their eighties and they have quite a few family members to help but we're right here with them and as long as their home is safe we'll take care of their other needs, even if the house is demolished we'll care for them until their family gets here to care for them. The young couple down the street will need shelter for the baby and themselves. The reasons for keeping the supplies and staying put are myriad. This is where our family will come in a disaster. There are lots of reasons for helping, as my Grandson says, "It's the right thing to do".

[GordonThree]

With an RV and tow, why stick around for a disaster? sounds like a perfect excuse to skip work for a few weeks / months and do some camping.

I was thinking to myself if my isolated northern town ever has another big wind storm, I'll grab my generators, credit cards, dog and hit the road in the RV! My house and its contents mean little to me, it's just stuff, all my important documents, family photos and movies are backed up online.

[bgum]

During hurricane season we are better prepared than other times during the year. We have the trailer ready to go any time a storm is in the area.

[JEBar]

when Hurricane Fran hit our part of NC we were without power at our home for 4 hours short of 2 full weeks .... based on weather projections we filled the camper's fresh water tank and made sure we had plenty of propane for our camper's generator .... we also stockpiled gasoline for our Honda 2500 generator .... when Fran moved on we moved inside the camper and there we stayed until power was restored .... county water was restored before the water in our tank was depleted .... our FloJet macerator pump took care of moving "stuff" from our camper's tanks to an access to the house septic tank .... all in all, we made it just fine

Jim