What do you do if you are in a state that is susceptible to hurricanes and/or tornadoes? I know you can handle snow and some rain in your RV but what about the scary stuff...what do you do? I guess a hurricane gives a lot more warning but tornadoes don't. |
Because we travel full time, and have a fairly flexible schedule,
we make every effort to NOT be in severe weather areas
during high season. . .hurricanes on the coast late summer, early fall . . .
tornadoes in the middle of the country, late spring, early summer. . .
however. . . we were in Houston when Hurricane Ike decided to head our direction. . .
we packed up and left for Austin. . .which is about four hours inland,
and although Austin anticipated some outer storm effects,
fortunately that ended up being far enough away.
In early summer 2009, we were headed to Yellowstone to work camp. . .
by way of Mt Rushmore in South Dakota.
Our anticipated route was through Oklahoma, Kansas, and up. . .
after checking forecasts, we ended up going through
Missouri and up through Iowa. . .which allowed us to skirt the predicted
thunderstorm activity. . .and thus, the possible tornados. . .
We also have a NOAA radio. . .haven’t used it yet. . .but we do have it!
What precautions do you take. . .and what resources do you use to avoid severe weather?
Stay safe out there,
Janice
We do the same as you. We follow the online weather stations, have a weather radio and when we arrive at a campground, ask what the weather is going to be like. One can never be too safe with the weather.
ReplyDeleteIt's the only time I dislike RV'ing. . .during high wind gust. . .ughhh! In Austin, I once asked the neighbor where the nearest tornado shelter was. Because Austin is not normally in a high risk area. . .the shelter was in town at the library. . .fortunately the storm blew over with no problems. . .probably the closest we've been to an issue!
DeleteFirst of all, I don't think anyone can reliably predict the weather more than about 3 days out. That said, I'll tell you what my brother, a native of Iowa that lived in North Carolina most of his life, said to me. "Give me a tornado over a hurricane anytime. They're not very wide and they only last a few seconds." I've lived in Polk County, Iowa (Des Moines area) all my life and I've never seen nor been close to a tornado. I've heard you can't out run a tornado because the rain blinds you. Don't know if that's true though.
ReplyDeleteJC
I concur JC. . .however, there are definitely weather patterns. . .when the warm air from the gulf is meeting up with the cold air from Canada. . .there are going to be thunderstorms in the middle of the country. . .so I will attempt to avoid them. Not always possible. . .
DeleteWe lived on the hurricane prone Gulf Coast all my life. . .and rode out Hurricane Alicia in 1983. . .not fun! That was in a house though. . .not something to try in an RV. . .run. . .hook up and run! LOL. . .
We were and still are static alongside a river here in NJ. When Irene and Lee visited last year, we evacuated because the river went out of its banks. We had a plan and it worked well. I use Weather Underground's Wundermap to monitor severe thunderstorms (we have a lot of those here) and am plugged into USGS WaterWatch, local law enforcement and other resources for staying on top of possible threatening weather. When traveling in 2010 heading south from IN, I monitored snowstorm forecasts, and we planned our trip and route to minimize exposure. For instance, we allowed a few days in IL, knowing a big storm was possible. Sure enough, we had whiteout conditions but were cozy for two or three days in our rig. We lose power here quite a bit (yay for a BIG generator!), so having these resources on my iPhone is a big bonus. I'm also a volunteer with our local CERT organization, so have the privilege of additional disaster-related information. Hey, I've even got a police scanner on my phone! Teehee! Seriously, you MUST be aware of weather situations in this lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteSo many great ideas Betty. . .but the one that really rings a bell is having the police scanner on your phone.
DeleteWhen hubby was and EMT and Industrial Fireman, he got an alert on his phone from the Sheriff's department. . .I bet there's an app for that. . .plug in the zip code. . .get an alert. . .I'm gonna have him check that out! Thanks. . .
when we are on our acre (The Landing) during spring and fall the plan is in place. Since this is the area of Kansas where we both went to college and worked our last 20 years of slavery we know that those times are subject to wild weather. The good news is just across the road some young folks bought the farm and w have gone to church with them for many years. We have a key to their house in case of rough weather. This summer we were in Woodland Park, CO when the Waldo Canyon fire put 1/2 the town under Mandatory Evacuation. Our 1/2 was only under pre-evac so to beat the rush we moved. For that period we used the local TV coverage for info. While in tornado country we use Wunderground and local TV for decision making. For snow time traveing we prefer to be west ahead of the season but like this year a family obligation keeps us in KS till lat Dec. We will watch Weather Channel, local TV, and a good guess as to how to miss the winter weather.
ReplyDeleteWell, a plan is half the battle LeRoy. . .it seems as though you guys have thought it through. . .and don't plan to ride anything out in the RV. . .wise decision.
DeleteGood luck with escaping the winter weather. . .