RV as an Evacuation Shelter

[parkerbill]

We live in what appears to be in the direct path of the storm here in Florida and due to many reasons we ultimately made the decision to stay put in our built to the latest hurricane codes and very well provisioned home rather than risk being caught out on the highway with our new 2016 Bullet in tow. Sadly, I expect our TT will be destroyed, but it is insured. I wish in retrospect that we had left with the TT a day or two ago or at least moved it out of danger. I said good bye to it yesterday.

[Coma]

FWIW I did the math on the forces a 40'x12' object would see if hit directly by 150mph winds. If i did this correctly it is 16,500lbs of force acting at the center of mass. Note this does not account for anything except wind. A 300 lb palm trees at 150 mph will exert over 7000 ft lbs on impact.

[Robmat]

Seems like a lot of people have been thinking about using their RV as a evacuation shelter long before I thought about it. It does make sense especially for those folks that can store their RV at their home and have it hooked up to electricity and be able to go in and out almost daily. I have unfortunately have to travel about 7 miles out of town to a storage area to get the RV but nonetheless I usually visit it every two weeks or so for one reason or another. I like Starsekr's idea of shelters having a designated RV parking area. 20-50 less people in a shelter makes a big difference as will 4 to 15 less pets. In my 1.8 sq mile town there has to be at least 7 RV's I've seen around town and who knows how many more are stored off shore. Multiply that by the 11 barrier islands in the county and you probably have 40 to 70 RV's times two to four people each can make an significant impact on sheltering. Depending on the Category of the Hurricane our county will have several shelters on the mainland at Schools that have large parking areas. All they would have to is designate a specific lot for RV's. I will pass that suggestion up the ladder at the next county OEM Meeting.

[BillJinOR]

An Rv can make a great escape pod before the need or a great self contained shelter after a storm. The problem is they most likely won't survive the storm to be a shelter! I was just in Florida a few weeks ago ( Kissimmee ) for a month.knowing I was in hurricane season I had a full tank before I parked and was prepared to leave not ride it out! I can get 900 miles on a tank. Good luck to those of you who stayed I'll be prayin for you

[Scarab0088]

It's set-up as a "LifeBoat".

In the aftermath of the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake (Gilroy, CA) which shook much of the San Francisco Bay Area, we saw RV'ers were very happy and safe in their self-contained homes...when much of the area residents were not so lucky.

Because of this, we keep our RV with full fuel and water. Has always made the decision of full water or not, very easy.

Safe travels.

[nothermark]

Being in the freezable NE our most likely scenario is an ice storm taking down power lines. I keep the MH stocked with gas and general 2/3 or more of propane. That should keep us good for a week of intermittent generator time if we are only dealing with power or get us out several hundred miles if there is a real reason to evacuate. In the summer the water tank is usually full and the holding tanks empty as well. In the winter there is around 10,000 gal in the pool. Some is frozen but not all of it. Food goes into the house over the freezing season. The rest of the time staples are stocked so it would only take a couple of hours to restock if we thought we needed to. That would come out of the couple of weeks minimum we keep stocked in the S&B.

FWIW most of being prepared is knowing what is needed and making sure it is there. I can tent camp or MH for a week if needed. Probably more with a little forethought. The last thing we want to do is try to buy what we need at the last minute so we keep rotating supplies on hand. Most of the equipment has a very long shelf life. Food is regularly rotated.

[Hooligan]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Only 'ride it out' when caught off guard/surprised.....Hurricanes do not qualify as they are tracked/warnings for days

Agree, But: One hurricane here, in the 80's- Monday it was some 500 miles south, moving north at 8-10 knots. Estimated here Thursday or Friday. Planned to leave Tuesday aftn. Monday 7am, storm was within 200 miles, CAT 4 moving N at 20-25kts. Expected that afternoon. We left, along with everyone in Pensacola, in 2hours had gone only 2 miles, went home and boarded up. Cat 2 at landfall with minimal damage.

One thing, you really learn to appreciate neighbors that look out for each other..... Prayers for those along the east coast of Florida, GA & SC now.

[ahicks]

My 2 biggest concerns sitting out a hurricane/storm in a MH would be shelter from the wind, and the one nobody seems to be able to predict real well - storm surge. Wind is pretty easy to figure out, but a 6'+ storm surge? What about 10'? How well does your MH float?

[Peacekeeper6]

I'm lucky enough to have my MH in my backyard, and if a situation arises that we have to evacuate, we would DEFINITELY take her with us.

All I have to do is fill up the fresh water tank, because I ALWAYS park it with a full tank of gas and at least 1/2 tank of propane. It wouldn't take us very long to pile all the necessary stuff (food, clothing, important papers, etc.) and be on the road in no time.

[C.Martin]

We saw the storm path and left Jupiter on Wednesday, after putting the shutters up on the home. We were not in an evacuation area...but didn't want to have the coach damaged. We called a place in Ft. Myers. They had room for us...and even had a special rate for the hurricane. What? I wonder what you call the opposite of price gouging??? I call it extremely considerate!!! Kudos to Gulf Waters RV Resort. They are amazing!!!

Anyway...DW and our two sammies are all tucked in away from the windfield. Still have to watch the long range path to see where this thing is headed.

I equate an RV to a boat or a plane. It's the Captains job to watch the weather, and circumnavigate it to avoid danger and damage. We do this sometimes when big lines of thunderstorms approach. Better to pack up and leave then to risk damage from falling tree limbs or hail. Besides...it's not fun anymore when the weather turns really nasty.

[Starsekr]

There is a post a couple notches down, The Atlanta Speedway has opened its grounds to RV equipped evacuees Hurricane Matthews. Now EM agencies need to develop MOUs (memorandum of understanding) with venues like Atlanta.

[mojoracing]

Originally Posted by mojoracing

Our motorhome is always sitting with fuel fuel, propane and 100 gallons of water on board as well as four cases of bottled water. The only time we drain the water is in the winter. It is always stocked with enough canned goods and non perishables to get by for at least a week. We have all the clothes and linens we need that stay on board as well. Its as simple as grabbing our wallet and purse, turning the key and heading out. I find it puzzling that some find this as a new revelation, to us it has just always made sense. Even when we want to head out for the weekend or an extended trip, its jump in and go. The whole idea is to make it easy. Everything on board is a duplicate of what we have in the sticks and bricks so no packing necessary.

As I stated earlier, we are always ready to go. Our motorhome is literally 7 feet from our side door, if I put the awning out, I can walk from the garage to the motorhome in a rain storm without getting wet. That being said, I can even fill the water tank in the middle of winter and as long as the heat is running, we wont freeze up. In the winter, I have a 100# tank of propane hooked up through an extenda-stay and between that and a couple electric heaters, I can use it as my mancave all winter and be ready to go at a moments notice. On another note, some folks seem to think the plan is to ride out the hurricane in the rv. The key to sheltering in an rv in a hurricane zone is to get out of the hurricane zone. They will not do well when put up against that kind of wind speed.

[gerdutch]

Keep mine next to my house. Past experience with Wilma blew off AC covers, 20 ft awning...covered by insurance. Also a few dings. This time went west to Ft. Myers, plenty of RV spots, no stress . ....! Of course use Gen., to hook up life line for Residence fridge.