Storm Ready: Battening Down the RV Hatches

As we traverse this great country, we often find ourselves in the path of storms. We endured wind storms in New Mexico, a close-call lightning strike in Georgia, and tornado warnings in Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

When you live in an RV, like we do, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather so that you can be ready to take action if needed. Because of our experiences, we feel pretty prepared for unexpected situations, but they’re still not fun — or convenient. Here are some measures we take to batten down the RV hatches and be storm ready. 

Closing Slideouts and Awnings

When we leave our rig for any period of time, we make a point to close our awnings. We’d hate for a gust to pick up one of our two shade coverings while we’re away and yank it off. 

Wind can also wreak havoc on our slideout toppers. Not all RVs come with these. We had them installed when we bought our rig to protect the slideouts from sun and heat and to prevent accidentally introducing debris on top of the slideouts to the inside of the trailer. These toppers are lightweight, making them easily flappable in wind. 

If we’re likely to get hit by a severe storm at night, we might close our slideouts before going to bed to avoid being awakened by the toppers slapping against the RV. 

If we’re not sure the storm will bring heavy winds, we’ll take measures to clear the paths of our four slideouts before bed so that we can close them quickly and easily should we need to. This includes moving items, such as my office chair, out of the way so that we can simply press a button without thinking and close the office slideout.

Getting Out of Potential Harm’s Way

We don’t have to get the rig tow-ready when anticipating a storm … unless we know something the magnitude of a hurricane is heading our direction. Then we’d be wise to pack up completely, hook up Gulliver to Tagalong, and get out of harm’s way. 

With that type of storm, we should have enough notice to be able to do all that. Thankfully, we haven’t had to encounter anything like that … yet. 

Strong winds have the potential to destroy parts of the trailer, or blow debris into or onto it. In the tornado warnings we experienced, for example, we made a point to seek shelter away from RVs, knowing they were the biggest threat. 

Because weather can change quickly, we’re also careful not to park in low spots that can be subject to flooding. This is especially important since our truck is not four-wheel drive.

Riding Out the Storm

Sometimes the best course of action is to hunker down and let the inclement weather pass. Not all storms produce heavy gusts or threaten destruction. Thunder can be difficult to sleep through, for example, but it’s usually short-lived.

Rain doesn’t cause much damage unless we’re moving in rainy weather. Then water can get inside our rig around the wheel wells. 

Hail can be destructive, but Tagalong sustained hailstones measuring about 1.5 inches that left no marks. The hail didn’t even harm our solar panels. 

Wherever we find ourselves, we try to keep a level head, be aware of our surroundings, and have a game plan in mind should a sudden storm arise. 

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