Storm causes severe damage at RV park in southern Mississippi

[jpons]

Just saw this in the news, hope it did not affect anyone here.
Severe weather blasts southern Mississippi, ransacks trailer park - CNN.com

[Jackcat2]

Yeah, that was a bad one last night. We have been parked in our daughters yard for several weeks in Ocean Springs, less than five miles from this park. Lots of storms down here, but that was the worst we 've been through while here .

[Overlander & Sea]

Here a link about the story from our local TV station.

Residents' lives at Santa Maria RV Park turned upside after dang - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

[Rich W]

I hope everyone is OK, looks like many of the trailers were knocked over. I hope they had a safe place to wait out the storm and not in their trailers. We were tent camping at Cabela's in Sydney, NE last year and had a bad storm. Everyone got into the cinder block shower / bathroom building.

I wonder how you'd get the RVs right side up again, probably have to lift it. I would think it would put too much stress on the axles and body to try and just winch it upright.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by richw46

I wonder how you'd get the RVs right side up again, probably have to lift it. I would think it would put too much stress on the axles and body to try and just winch it upright.

I would think it's probably a waste of time to try to right them at all, except maybe to get them wheels down for a very slow tow to a junkyard. Box frame trailers are not designed to resist rollover loading. My guess is any that rolled over on its side or roof is a total loss. Best the owners could hope for is to recover personal possessions from inside and say good-bye to the rest.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I would think it's probably a waste of time to try to right them at all, except maybe to get them wheels down for a very slow tow to a junkyard. Box frame trailers are not designed to resist rollover loading. My guess is any that rolled over on its side or roof is a total loss. Best the owners could hope for is to recover personal possessions from inside and say good-bye to the rest.

You're probably right. I think I'd rather the insurance just replaced the unit as that much stress rolling it onto its side is going to be fatal for any trailer, even an AS.

[m.hony]

It is a tragedy, and I hope it never happens to me, but if it ever does...
I will get a better trailer- or one more tailored/customized for me- twin beds, cocoa ultra leather, solar, Eddie Bauer wheels and tires, disc brakes, AGM batteries, ProPride...
and another tow vehicle- silver Tundra Platinum 4x4 with black leather...
Not that different from my current combo, just "new and improved".
Seriously, I hope everything works out for those involved and they are able to get there trailers replaced quickly and commence enjoying the RV lifestyle again.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by m.hony

Seriously, I hope everything works out for those involved and they are able to get there trailers replaced quickly and commence enjoying the RV lifestyle again.

Though I imagine that some will decide never to set foot in a trailer again after the physical and mental trauma of it. Not everyone is resilient enough to bounce back and try again. To me that's the real tragedy, that some folks not only had their trailers taken from them, but their lifestyles as well. Still, better to lose a lifestyle than to lose a life.

[robwok]

I saw a post a while back that had pics of all these white boxes on their side, and the AS was sitting there like nothing happened. The wind rolled right over it like an airplane wing. I still might go the extra step and get some lawn ancors and strap the axles down if I thought it was going to be bad.

[PharmGeek]

that is just tragic! It seems in reading the article everyone is "ok"...

I cant imagine how terrifying having your RV turned all the way over while you are in it!!

[m.hony]

I have been in a mobile home trailer when the roof was ripped off in a storm. It sucked the curtains out. My great grandparents had a mobile home trailer turn over on them during a tornado. They walked out on the ceiling. They bought a new mobile home and put it in the same spot (the one that later became mine and I survived a storm in). The old trailer was put back upright and used as a storage building for the next 20-30 years. Both trailers are now gone, with only the carport and storage room remaining. I still lived in several mobile homes after that. The last one I owned is still being lived in by the lady who bought it from me.
If you have ever been involved in a terrible automobile crash, the experience/trauma/shock is about the same.
Who remembers the tornadoes in Mississippi April 27, 2011?
We were in our trailer in a campground, felt it rocking, and went to the bath house for shelter. We then drove on to the next campground at sometimes 35-45 mph in the terrible wind. That was the most traumatic trailer towing experience of my life, but it wasn't as bad as being caught out on my motorcycle in a storm...
I have hydroplanes a truck and trailer off the highway in a torrential downpour- exit 153 on I-55 near St. Louis, MO. Since then I have slowed down- you won't hydroplane under 50 mph-
Back to last night's storm- I only read of one guy going to the hospital for examination and the Red Cross was planning to offer whatever assistance they could. One guy was going to his son's house in the next town over- maybe they will all go right on over to Foley RV/GM and buy Airstreams and Silveradoes/Sierras/Tahoes/Yukons/Suburbans-

[HiHoAgRV]

One of the other media outlets noted that none of the flipped RV's were tied down.

HUH?

[m.hony]

RV's generally are not tied down. I've never seen an RV tied down.
Mobile home trailers are tied down- the storm just rips the roofs off-
The media does have a tendency to dramatize or sensationalize storms.
A trailer park or a gas station awning will always get coverage- the first/easiest things destroyed in a storm-
Those RV's will be replaced- maybe they will get Airstreams from Foley- either way some RV dealership is gonna sell 20-25 new units soon-

[jcanavera]

Curious how resistant an Airstream would be to a strong straight line side wind.

Jack

[Overlander & Sea]

Here's another news story later in the day from the same local TV station.

RV park resident recalls climbing out of storm wreckage - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Curious how resistant an Airstream would be to a strong straight line side wind.

Jack

Not sure I'd want to put one to the test…

It's pretty safe to say that once the wind pressure on your trailer exceeds the weight of the trailer, the trailer WILL move, either to be shifted sideways or to roll over. It will of course start rocking before that but probably at least stay put.

Using your own 30' classic slideout as an example (GWVR 10,000 pounds), if 000° is staight ahead and increasing to clockwise so a wind straight from the side is 090°, for yours the absolute worst angle would be about 100° to 110°, perpendicular to a line between your street-side tires and your tongue jack with the slideout to downwind where its weight aids in trying to pull you over.

Doing the number-crunching offline… About the time the wind speed increases over 60mph from that direction, there is a good chance your trailer would move. From any other direction the windspeed needed to move your trailer goes up, and is highest when the wind is from directly ahead— no surprise there.

By comparison, for a flat-sided and flat-roofed box trailer the same size and weight, movement would occur when the wind speed rises above 51mph from the same direction. The rounded sides of your trailer give you greater stability because they spill some of the wind.

But in both cases, one can increase the stability by preventing any wind from getting underneath. Same calculations, leaving out the effect of wind on the belly pan, your estimated windspeed to move the trailer goes up to about 75mph. That's a pretty big increase just by putting a rigid skirt around your trailer!

[lewster]

Originally Posted by m.hony

RV's generally are not tied down. I've never seen an RV tied down.

Come on down to FL. There are lots of 5th wheels and travel trailers that tay here all year and the owners have them toed to their concrete pads with hurricane strapping. I would venture a guess that at least 50% of those are secured to their pads.

If a big blow does come thru, I would suspect that the only thing remaining would be the frame…………...

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

It's pretty safe to say that once the wind pressure on your trailer exceeds the weight of the trailer, the trailer WILL move, either to be shifted sideways or to roll over. It will of course start rocking before that but probably at least stay put.

Just to be clear, the rough calculations for determining if the wind will move a trailer assume that the trailer is strong enough to remain intact. For a flimsy trailer that will come apart in a lesser wind, it doesn't matter if it moves; as soon as pieces start coming off, my estimates are naturally worthless.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

That's a pretty big increase just by putting a rigid skirt around your trailer!

How rigid? I've seen some decorative skirts that could be rolled up for transport, would that suffice or would it have to be something like corrugated sheet metal? I don't suppose there's some easy way of skirting trailers or I'd see more of them. Maybe just too much of a pain to tote something like that around?

[AirEgger]

Interesting analysis by Protagonist. Just wondering if a lateral wind being deflected up and over the top of the AS would create a vacuum over the top of the AS, acting some what like the leading edge of a wing. While at the same time, the wind under the AS, moving between to flat surfaces, the ground and the bottom of the AS, would have a higher pressure than the vacuum over the the AS, creating some degree of lift, adding to the instability of the AS. Maybe the weight of the AS is sufficient to offset this, if there is any lift.. There's probably some aerodynamics folks out there that can say if this is a contributor. Having said this, I'd rather be in an AS than some other type RV. We traveled for a number of years in a fifth wheel and experienced some strong rocking, not a good feeling.