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Thread: Surviving Weather
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05-19-2021, 11:16 AM #1
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Surviving Weather
Well we survived last years Texas winter snow/ice storm and came through it ok. Last night @ 6pm we survived a tornado on the ground.
Had to abandon ship and ran down to the campground office/community center and stayed there for about an hour. Our weather radio and cell phone alerts were going crazy.
Was really rocking and rolling for awhile. No debris damage, missed us by a couple miles, but the rain didn't. According to the local news we got 6.8 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, about 4 inches of it all at once. Was under a flash flood warning almost all night. We got back to the rig and found rain had come through some of the window frames. I guess the lower frame weep hole slits could not drain the water fast enough, and wind blown rain, so it over flowed the window track and ran down the interior walls. Did a lot of wipe up and drying last night right after the big storm and then we lost power for about an hour. Wicked lightning! It rained almost all night long, the windows didn't leak anymore.
Checked the exterior of the rig this morning at day light. The bottom of the bedroom slide underneath along the lower schwintek rails are wet. Damn I hope the bottom of the bedroom slide along the edges doesn't swell up and start to come apart.
The right side big cargo storage door along the bottom of the frame had water standing in the track and there are two holes on the bottom of the door just below the latches, the door soaked up water like a sponge through the holes. No water got inside the cargo area. I am thinking of putting a couple dents in the bottom of the frame where the inside seal is, (the door seals against) as a place for water to drain out of the frame. Didn't see any other damage but got to get up on the roof also to check things out.
You camp long enough and you'll have to deal with all kinds of situations. Another memory for the fulltime camping diary.
Just got down from the roof, some small tree limbs and leaves but every thing seems ok up there.Last edited by Steven@147; 05-19-2021 at 11:36 AM. Reason: additional
Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel
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05-19-2021, 11:42 AM #2
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That's scary stuff, Steve! My late wife and I went to school in Amarillo in the early '70s and later lived in the DFW area for about 13 years total. After a number of experiences like the one you describe (in Amarillo, a tornado lifted temporarily - just long enough to skip over our little neighborhood of small framed houses without cellars), I do my very best not to be in tornado ally during "the season." Glad you're safe and hope you don't end up with any water damage.
RobU.S. Army Retired
2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
(Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
Full time since 08/2015
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05-19-2021, 11:44 AM #3
Glad you weathered it safely! Wind-driven rain will definitely find the limits of an RV's weathertightness!
Even when not yet full-timing you can find yourself in unreal weather conditions... We have about a dozen that yield the OMG face when told...Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN
Mountains of Pennsylvania
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05-19-2021, 12:06 PM #4
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Wow, Steve and Tami - you've had quite a last few months !
You mentioned the window weep holes. We too experienced this with heavy wind driving windstorm last July here in SD. I stayed up when the storm hit seeing it coming on my phone to hit about about midnight. I got the towels supply ready and as the watched as the water was actually blowing through the weep holes into the RV ! Never experienced that before.
Several weep holes in the back window, dining slide rear window, and widow over the theater seating all had blowing water. I was "catching" water as it blew in and wiping the walls before it could hit the floor. Thank goodness for us our theater seating was never fastened to the floor so I could work behind it after pulling it away from the slide wall. Same with the couch as I pulled that away from the rear window.
Wave a after wave of 60 or so mile an hour wind gusts and driving rain occurred over more than an hour. I finally ran out of towels and was ringing wet ones out in the kitchen sink but they did the job.
Yikes, what an adventure. The next day, I put black duck tape pieces over about 10 or so exterior side window weep holes just in case we got more storms as were in the forecast. All part of the deal and our ability and desire to be prepared and adapt to handle life's little adversities.
Hope your coming weeks and months are smooth sailing.......you deserve it !
DanDan & Carol
2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
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05-19-2021, 01:15 PM #5
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[emoji44] OMG Really glad you came out unscathed.
Sent from my SM-P610 using TapatalkSteph & Lise
2019 F150 Lariat 2.7 EB
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05-19-2021, 01:51 PM #6
@Steven@147 glad you are safe and no big damage. I read your entries back during the cold snap. We’re not full-timing but I made mental notes if we experience the same.
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05-19-2021, 07:27 PM #7
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We did get through it without any damage or any rigs in our campground but I did see on the local news an RV on its side, don't know exactly where it was. It's always good to keep a weather radio handy because cell phones might not get a good signal. It's also a good idea to look at a map and get familiar with the surrounding cities, towns and counties so if a storm pops up you'll know where it is from you. A couple taking shelter with the rest of us couldn't get a cell phone signal. At the community center they kept running in and out of the bathroom, i guess they thought that was the safest place, probably was but there was only room for two. They would pop out and ask where it was , then run back in, kind of freaky. The wife and I have been through it before. Hell since married 43 years we've been through earthquakes, tornadoes, hail storms, ice and snow blizzards, wildfires and hurricanes.
We had been watching the forecast and knew rain was coming and they had been warning of severe weather, then when they issued a tornado watch we paid more attention. When they issued a warning for the area we are at, it was 9 miles away coming our way. Time to abandon ship. We knew our shelter was the office and community center. An RV is no place to ride out a bad storm. RVs can be replaced.
They say we ended up with 7.2 inches of rain as of last night, and today its been raining on and off. I've been trying to figure out how water is getting inside one of the schwintek lower gear rails on the bedroom slide. The gear rail is hollow inside where the gear teeth ride so once water gets inside it just runs the length. Somewhere water is getting inside the rail and weeping into the underside floor of the slide. Trying to figure out how water ends up in a particular place can be difficult or like playing hide and seek! Got to get this fixed before it rots out the bedroom floor. That's a job I don't want to even think about!
We are supposed to hit the road in a couple weeks to Florida but I've been seeing Louisiana is getting hammered. They say some parts of i10 are closed. Hoping for the next couple weeks to be sunny.
Y'all take care out thereLast edited by Steven@147; 05-19-2021 at 07:31 PM.
Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel
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05-19-2021, 09:09 PM #8
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Good to hear you rode it out ok. Will try and send some sunshine your way.
When the wind hits 60 or above it makes me a little nervous. During one of FLs driving rain storms we had water coming in the same slide area
We found a small spot that the slide seals did not completely flip near the bottom. Also added a dab of clear silicone to the gear rails at the trailer side to prevent flow to the inside. Haven't had it comes in there again during driving rains.
Another spot to watch depending on wind direction is the stove vent (if you have one ) we had a large puddle on the counter next to the stove then too.
Marcy & Gary
2014 Grand Design - Reflection 303RLS
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05-20-2021, 04:07 PM #9
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05-20-2021, 04:25 PM #10Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN
Mountains of Pennsylvania
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