Tornado Incoming! What To Do When You're Camping

Memorial Day is traditionally the start of summer when everyone who can gets the RV and heads to a campground. But last weekend’s much-anticipated summer RV kickoff turned out to be a nightmare in many parts of the country when absolutely savage weather swept through numerous states, producing hailstones, high winds, heavy rains, and multiple tornadoes. Follow along on our blog here: rvlifestyle.com/what-to-do-wh...
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00:00 The RV Podcast 499
01:31 AZ Trip, New eBook, & CDC Pet Border Rules
08:30 Social Media RV Buzz
14:40 What To Do When Tornadoes Hit
29:32 RV & Travel News of The Week
39:11 Viewer Questions & Answers
43:26 Mike & Jen's RV Story Time
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By background, we're journalists Mike and Jennifer Wendland and this channel is all about freedom and fun through RV travel! We travel North America in our RV doing travel videos,
how-tos, RV walk-through tours and video tips about how to get the most out of the RV Lifestyle. Thanks for joining in and being a part of our RV Lifestyle!

[@penneemw]

Thank for your efforts to get clarifications on the new dog travel rules. One would think they would have processed needed clarifications during development. Even worse is stating they are too busy to give clarification. I appreciate your hearts for the RV community.

[@RoeGabriel_i_EMPOWER]

You guys are AWESOME!! I’m brand new to RV living and you have helped me so much. Especially with the CDC new dog rules. I now understand it much better. This is my first time at your podcast and will become a regular now that I have found you. As a newbie I found this info extremely helpful.

[@RVLifestyle]

Thank you so much! Really appreciate this note and so glad it was helpful!

[@sarawunderlich5917]

Great tornado safety overview. Thank you.

[@randydexter5727]

Excellent Podcast!!! Great information and stories. Keep up the great work.

[@RVLifestyle]

Thank you so much, Randy!

[@queenbetsy2]

Comment-we’re from Nebraska. I’ve been camping since I was 10 and I’m now 64 so it’s been a lot of years! We take tornado warnings seriously when we’re camping. If stormy weather is predicted, we find out where the nearest tornado shelter is. Usually, it’s the bathroom because it’s normally a brick building. Otherwise, a good place to go is a walk in freezer in convenience store or gas station if you’re driving.

[@RVLifestyle]

Great tips!

[@ggebhard1]

I’ve been going to S Dakota, all my life, to visit relatives. The worst Bug Out was when I was a teenager and they had a full blown grasshopper invasion!! Back then, cars weren’t air conditioned! So, all windows were down! Talk about being grossed out! We were all screaming, because they were all over the inside and outside of the cars! And they weren’t dead!!! Whenever I see these emojis…🤢🤮 I Think about how sick my sister got from drinking the green milk, from the cows eating the grasshoppers! The eggs were green, too! We spent a whole day at the hospital with my sister!!! I wasn’t about to eat the green eggs and green milk!! Boy, was I lucky! 🍀

[@RVLifestyle]

Yuck! I think I would remember that forever, too!

[@baitguru9197]

I had planned on taking our motorhome out over the 3 day Memorial day weekend for our first Glamping trip of the year. The local Dallas news stations were forecasting sunny, warm (not hot like the days prior) days with slight chances of rain over the next couple of days. However, My plans changed as I had a customer schedule critical maintenance activity on Saturday night through Sunday morning. I was managing the team scheduled to support my customer activity on Saturday night. However, at 4:30pm on Friday, we were notified that they cancelled that activity (conflict with more critical maintenance activities), and this resulted in freeing up my 3 day Memorial weekend. Other than an early (4:30am) social run with my club in North Texas, I had no plans for the extended weekend. I had considered driving 40 miles up to Valley View, Texas and dropping our boat off at our Mechanic for yearly preventative maintenance before I started using it for the season (I do not go out on the lake during holidays). After our run on Saturday morning, I was able to reserve 2 complimentary nights up in Thackerville, Oklahoma (just across the border with Texas on Interstate 35) at the World's largest Casio, Winstar Casiino, Resort, Golf, and RV park. I was surprised as this was the Memorial day holiday, and they still had several RV spots available for us at absolutely no charge (my wife enjoys visiting this casino). I believe the recent tornadoes (weeks earlier), and storms in the area may have discouraged many people from visiting this area. I was scheduled to be at the RV park after 4pm. At 3:30pm, after a long nap, I loaded up our bags, solo stove fire pit, firewood, and our dog into our motorhome, and after a stop at Walmart for food and drinks, I headed west and then North up I-35 to meet my wife (the next morning, as she left to check on her parents) for a couple of nights at the Winstar Casino RV park. On the way up I passed my boat mechanic's location at Lake Park Marine, thinking I really need to drop of my boat for yearly service before I tow the boat down to Florida. I then noticed that Lake Park Marine was packed with boats requiring service, and there wouldn't have been a spot for me to leave my boat anyway. I arrived at Winstar Casino's RV park at 5:30pm. The hosts told me that they had storms the Thursday night earlier. I had seen a few Tornados in Southern Oklahoma (Marietta), but witness the damage to a the area (Dollar store distribution center with boxes of items on racks 40' feet high, exposed to the weather). I hooked up water, and electricity, and the local news stations were already warning of Severe weather, and then a tornado, 20 miles directly to the west and heading directly towards us. I knew it wouldn't reach us, as it typically travels North east at some point, but it was going to be close, and we might get some hail, along with heavy rain. As the darkening clouds approached, my dog and I enjoyed the lightning show. The news stations didn't stop coverage of the storms, and the tornado, and had at least 2 different "Storm chasers" broadcasting live showing the twister. It did travel North towards Lake Murray in Oklahoma (about 18 miles North). This time, THIS tornado lifted, and didn't cause any damage. Other than another Thunderstorm with moderate rain, we (in southern Oklahoma) were not under any threat. We continued to enjoy the lightning show as the storm approached. i was impressed at how well my motorhome insulated us from the sound of the thunder. I looked outside to see if there was any hail (there was not), but I did notice that while using my Surge protector plugged into the Pedestal, my RV electrical plug was exposed to the rain. Around 10:30pm, as I was starting to dose off to sleep, I noticed that both my Airconditioner, and television briefly turned off, and came back on. I thought it was very odd, as I didn't have to turn the television back on after the brief power-off. I thought it was because my electrical plug was now exposed to the rain. The next day, while catching a shuttle (the run every 15 minutes until 2:30am) from the Casio (my wife was enjoying time with her twin brother, mother, and father at the Casino, she was winning $$) to the RV park to check on our dog in the A/C comfort of our motorhome (he is really enjoying being in the motorhome and away from home). A lady told me about the power outage last night at the Casino, around 10:30pm. It was very dark, but when the power returned, the slot machines came back up with all the correct money amounts listed on the screen ("like they never shutdown"). She then said she believed the power outage was related to the Tornado that came through Valley View, and Sanger, Texas yesterday. I asked for clarification, you mean the Tornado that came over Thursday night? I drove through Valley View, and Sanger yesterday evening and I didn't notice any storms. It wasn't even cloudy. She corrected me, you must have gone through before the the tornado hit last night. I was surprised. These Oklahoma news stations didn't provide any coverage of the Texas tornado that was just 20 miles directly south of us on I-35. I returned to my Motorhome, turned on the television and caught the Formula 1 race in Monaco (My least favorite Formula 1 race, as there is no room to pass, and My driver Max Verstappen was in 6th place and having car handling issues, but they are far ahead of any other team in the points standings. There was an accident on the course with an extended delay, and that was the coverage was replaced by a paid advertisement for a "hearing aid". I changed the station to the local news, which immediately discussed that 7 people perished when the tornado hit Valley view. There are no early warning sirens in the area, and there are lots of mobile homes. The news showed images Tornado damage, including Shell convenience store/ fuel station (that I had visited many time) where 30+ people sought protection from the tornado in the large freezers. Amazing that anyone survived, as the place was completely destroyed. Even a tractor trailer rig was blown over on its side. They then show the structure to the North, Lake Park Marine Repair center. While the main structure was still standing, it was heavily damaged. Boats flipped upside down, and piled on top of each other. New RV trailers from the Rv retailer next door where flipped, and some of them thrown on top of the boats. I was shocked. Not only was I planning on dropping off my own boat at this repair center, I had driven by this location just 5.5 hours before the tornado hit. I feel really sorry for young man that owns this business, and his employees. He does quality repair work (he rebuilt my outboard motor), at a fair price. He has had some really bad personal situations to his family, and his business since he took over ownership. I first started using Lake Park Marine over 20 years ago (a different owner) when they were located further south on the other side of Lake Lewisville, Texas. However, a boat fire in their garage resulted in other retailers complaining, and owner refused to allow them to renew the lease of the property, so they relocated up North in Valley View.

[@dawnmason7111]

Great show! I agree with everything you’ve said in this show and the last 😉

[@RVLifestyle]

Thank you for the encouragement!

[@cottonpickenlife3507]

Sorry, but I laughed when you shared the bug blizzard story. Thanks for sharing 😂

[@RVLifestyle]

It IS funny now!

[@testingtesting4534]

What do you do? Run!

[@hermes6587]

Another informative and helpful video and thanks for reaching out to the CDC. Sad they were not much help, but no surprise. I also contacted them via email, also with no response. We have had our dog micro chipped as a puppy, as we have with our previous dog which is the right thing to do irregardless of travel outside the country.

[@onelifelivinit7493]

Loved this episode. So much good information. Thank you.

[@RVLifestyle]

Thank you for encouraging us!

[@lindawoody8501]

1. Try to know the name of the county you plan to stay within as weather bulletins name a county or counties affected. 2. Ask management for their suggestion about what to do if severe weather is warned and expected. 3. A good idea is to wear closed toe shoes and bring a bike helmet for each person when sheltering from severe storms especially tornadoes. Especially helpful if you know you will be staying in possibly tornado-prone areas (hopefully protects head from any flying objects and shoes protect from broken glass/wood or metal splinters).

[@johndeleo1929]

very timely topic!!

[@queenbear4581]

Watch the bugs when you drive the Mass Pike ( I90) this summer.

[@RVLifestyle]

Good to know! Thanks!

[@lyfandeth]

Bugs: The dual cicada emersion maybe?

[@dhyde9207]

There is a typo on the story about the woman who was saved ... it was carbon Monoxide, not Dioxide. Cheers.

[@lyfandeth]

Rig exploding? Monoxide deaths? Time to lose the propane and go lithium plus dual alternators. Which also gives you unlimited bridge and tunnel access, and one less fuel that needs filling.