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Old 09-19-2020, 05:38 PM   #1
Seasonal Life
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Hurricane Prep

Hello Everyone,


My first year with a seasonal site and a 5th wheel, can anyone offer any advice on the best way to prep my 30ft 5th wheel for Hurricane Teddy or any future hurricanes that may visit Nova Scotia.





Thank You
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Old 09-19-2020, 06:45 PM   #2
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Welcome to the forum

Being out west I don’t have to worry about hurricanes, just fires this year. Hopefully someone that lives in an area that sees severe weather can give you some good advise.
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Old 09-20-2020, 05:47 AM   #3
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Having lived on the Texas coast all my life I've dealt with many storms. I definitely wouldn't ride out a direct hit from a hurricane in a RV. Have a plan if the forecasters say it's coming at you. Have your important papers and medicines collected in 1 place so you can grab them on your way out the door. Leave the RV if you don't leave the area well before (days before) the forecast hit. Have a couple hundred dollars cash. Fill your truck with fuel and have at least an extra 5 gallons. You do NOT want to get stranded on the highway in a storm. You also do NOT want to be stuck in a massive traffic jam. Media will be advising routes away from the storm. You may want to have a Plan B escape route unless you evacuate very early. People get a little crazy running from a storm so keep your head on a swivel and your hand on your 9mm.
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Old 09-20-2020, 07:47 AM   #4
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If you can’t move your trailer further inland then move yourself and family. There is nothing you can possibly do to stop wind or water. Take your papers/pictures in a water/ fire resistant box. Bottled water and some food (energy bars, beef jerky, soy bean snacks etc that are high energy, high protein, and don’t take up much space. Just to have some substance to get to safety.

If backroads are being traversed a small chainsaw and gas and a stout tow strap or rope to pull tree limbs off the road. The best advice is “getting while the getting good” so you don’t find yourself in a position of danger.
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Old 09-20-2020, 03:19 PM   #5
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Interesting question and good answers. I live on the east coast of Florida. We've been through our share of tropical storms and hurricanes. 2004 comes to mind. Charley, Frances, Jean... All three drove us out of the state.

We bought a small camper for this very reason (first one was smaller). DW and I both hate hotels and they fill up fast with evacuees, loud kids, lots of pets, and irritated parents (interstates 95 or 75 are the only quick ways out to the north). When a storm threatens the coastline, we pack up and head out to one of 3 or 4 RV parks in Georgia days in advance. There are three things we bring. Gas, cash, and stash. (no, not THAT stash ). Stash is everything else, medications, paperwork, food for a few days, clothes and a generator. I typically bring 10 gallons of gas and I leave 10-15 at home. We've come back and had to ride out a week plus with no electric several times. No power means the pumps don't pump gas at the filling stations. Anyway, if you can take your trailer with you it might come in handy. If it's too much, just get your things gathered up, get the cash and extra gas and go inland. Your trailer can be replaced. You can't. Best of luck and I hope Teddy curves more to the east and you only get a glancing blow at the worst.

(We call the trailer our "storm escape pod" for 6 months of the year. - the rest of the time it's just our camper).
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Old 09-20-2020, 03:29 PM   #6
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Bill, I liked your phrase "days in advance." I'm amazed at the number of people who have lived in hurricane prone areas their whole life and then line up for plywood and generators a day in advance. Or pile into the ol' Buick 6 hours ahead of the storm only to run out of gas headed north. It doesn't take all kinds, there just ARE all kinds.
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Old 09-20-2020, 03:39 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by notanlines View Post
Bill, I liked your phrase "days in advance." I'm amazed at the number of people who have lived in hurricane prone areas their whole life and then line up for plywood and generators a day in advance. Or pile into the ol' Buick 6 hours ahead of the storm only to run out of gas headed north. It doesn't take all kinds, there just ARE all kinds.
We've boarded up, rode 'em out and told ourselves never again. Just to turn around the next year and do it again for the smaller systems. We eventually learned. Look, people don't like to leave their homes, I get, I'm in that frame of mind every year for 6 months. So, we take ours with us (small version, hehe) and hope to return to the sticks and bricks a few days later.
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Old 09-20-2020, 03:45 PM   #8
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If you can hook up then hook up and get out of there; take lot of gas for that 4KW genny you will want to have. The generator will need to be covered in inclement weather so figure out how to do that prior... get out of there (as mentioned, well before the herd of folks moves so you can find a place for the camper). If you can't get the camper out: Put together a GO BAG. This will include a few changes of clothes (mainly underwear, socks and a couple tee shirts), a few rolls of toilet paper, extra meds that will take you through a couple weeks, MONEY and toiletries. This is a bag or suitcase. Don't touch the stuff inside unless you need to refrigerate some of the meds and then toss them in when you grab the bag. If you have critters, stash some critter chow in the most reliable vehicle you have and critter crates. Toss GO BAGS, family and critters in your vehicle and perhaps have a couple 5 gallon cans of gas stashed as well as stations along your escape route will quickly be without fuel. A couple cases of bottled water might come in handy and toss them in the vehicle as well. Then drive in the direction that seems right (away from effects of storm and routes that will soon be clogged. Higher protected ground is better than low-lying unprotected. Have enough cash to survive for a couple weeks; always have more than you think you will need.
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Old 09-20-2020, 05:14 PM   #9
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I think it was Ike that we evacuated. My DW was terrified about what Katrina did to New Orleans. Decided to go to my brothers in NW Arkansas. Media was recommending I-45 to Dallas. Oh heck no. We went through deep east Texas on backroads to Shreveport and then on to NW Arkansas. Didn't leave until 11PM. Traffic thinned out after midnight. Our daughter was in grad school and followed us in her car. She had a fellow student with her. Poor girl was from China and had been going to Tulane until Katrina shut them down. She transferred to UT in Houston. Then she was flushed out of there. Must have been traumatized. I doubt if she had a clue where she was going or with who.
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Old 09-21-2020, 07:01 AM   #10
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When we lived in Alexandria/Pineville area, we typically "rode out the storms".. We were far enough inland that our area was the "evacuation point" for much of the Gulf Coast region. We were "supposed to be safe from flooding" but certainly not from the rains, power outages or lack of supplies needed to survive...

Food, water, gas, cash all are vital to staying or to evacuating. When Katrina hit New Orleans, we only "suffered rains and high winds" in Pineville. BUT !!!!!

The banking/financial centers were all in New Orleans!!!! When those computers "shut down" all of our banking records also "shut down"... Even the "locally owned banks" fell victim to lack of computer support from the financial centers... So, none of the ATM's worked, no "bank cards" worked, we couldn't go to the bank and access our accounts, we couldn't get cash advances on credit cards or bank lines of credit and even the "supply of ready cash" at banks fell critically short because the armored car services were not operating. We couldn't go to a supermarket or WalMart and use a credit card or debit card... ALL ELECTRONIC BANKING CEASED TO EXIST !!!

We learned in Katrina to have a supply of ready cash ON HAND. For us and our bank in Pineville, it took 3 weeks to gain access to our accounts and another 3 or 4 weeks before the balances were accurate and confirmed. During that time, NO MONEY INCOME was available and NO CREDIT CARD transactions were possible... So, no "running to the corner gas station to get 5 gallons of gas for the generator, once the cash in our wallets and piggy banks was depleted.... We managed, but a vast majority of our neighbors didn't have a "cup of change on the dresser" with enough quarters and nickels to make it through....

Moral of that story: If you stay or if you evacuate, take enough of what you'll need to manage. Cash, food, water, gas, clothing, medicines, important papers, and other things your situation requires. For those who lived in New Orleans, some still aren't able to return to their "old house in the old neighborhood"... The last time we were in New Orleans (last fall) there are still "blue tarps draped over roofs"... Once you leave, there's no guarantee that when you return, there will be anything to return to......
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Old 09-21-2020, 02:47 PM   #11
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^^X2 on all that.
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Old 09-21-2020, 03:13 PM   #12
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Never been in a hurricane, but common sense would dictate.... keep your camper "mobile" all the time. Keep your tires inflated all the time, keep your "junk" at a minimum so you can quickly pack-up, roll the awnings in, pull in the slide outs, hitch up and get out of Dodge. Have a cash stash stowed away for such an emergency, and be prepared to move out in a moment's notice. Never anchor down so firm you can't be packed and hitched and on the road in a couple hours. That is why your camper has wheels, so it can move. Even if you have no where to go, no relatives, no campgrounds, and options, it's better you pull up stakes and get out of the hurricaine path and just hang out in a Wall Mart parking lot for a couple days than run the risk of loosing your camper, and worse, your life trying to ride it out. Best advise, keep your camper "mobile."
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Old 09-21-2020, 04:09 PM   #13
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I've not been in a hurricane either but I have visited in the near term aftermath of a couple. I live in tornado country not hurricane so there's not much "prep" to do since there is generally no warning.

In an RV my prep would be the things previously mentioned - especially cash and the ability to get up and go. I traveled to FL 10 days after Michael which centered at Mexico Beach. I stayed in a small RV park S of Tallahassee where I always stay. The office had been under 5' of water.....way away from the hurricane center. Most folks left but some couldn't. Most had their trailers moved in and had no way to move them out. When something like that comes you aren't going to find someone you don't know to get you out, and they couldn't. One guy used his truck to move some of them until he said he was getting out. The rest got flooded.

Traveled to Mexico Beach a few days later. I've never seen such naturally caused devastation. But as far as RVs go....the RV park across the highway from the beach was gone along with all the RVs....except the one sitting up high in the pine trees where it had been blown/floated. Ride out a hurricane like that?

Anyway, my idea of "prep" in a situation like that is having the hitch ready, money in my pocket and reservations a few hundred miles away out of the path prepared to return to nothing.
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