Tornado again

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schoolsout2

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While in Fl in Jan a tornado warning went out for the area we were in but never materialized.  While camping in a state park this week in Ohio, severe storms rocked the area.  I woke up at 3:00 am to the hail beating on the roof and the wind rocking our 36' MH.  I have experienced tornadoes before and felt that we just dodged one.  In the morning we learned that one had hit about 5 miles away.  In both instance we talked with other campers and no one seemed to know what to do if a  tornado was imminent.  I will be taking a weather radio with me from now on.  We were in a remote area with no cell data service so our smart phones would not work to check radars and warnings, and being in a state park there was no wifi.

We had a plan to go to the cement shower house if we felt the need for safety.  I was surprised so many campers had no idea of what to do if they needed to get to safety.  Any thought?
 
schoolsout2 said:
We had a plan to go to the cement shower house if we felt the need for safety.  I was surprised so many campers had no idea of what to do if they needed to get to safety.  Any thought?

Thats my plan too. I always look to see where the bath house is, as that is usually the heaviest constructed building you will find in the area.

Also the smart phone makes an excellent weather radio, as it knows where you are and you don't need to figure out what weather station area you are in.
 
schoolsout2 said:
I will be taking a weather radio with me from now on. 
See the NOAA Weather Radio county by county coverage so you can set the radio to alert you for only nearby weather events.  Note that not all areas are covered by such as you can see by visiting the coverage maps page. 

If you are going to be in fringe areas and want coverage talk to a amateur radio operator, or ask in the amateur radio forum here, and we'll help you with a somewhat better antenna system.
 
We always carry a weather radio and have used it when driving to dodge tornados.  When we got ours I thought it would be more difficult to use and printed out all the NOAA weather stations - which I never used.  When we get to a new area, I turn on the radio, set it to program, run through the seven NOAA stations, put it on the station with the strongest signal, take it off program function, and set it to receive.  Voila, you have the nearest NOAA station.  Last year we were in a place where none of the seven stations had a signal, but then one day I decided to try again and the nearest station had turned on to provide some information like an Amber Alert.  So they may not be actively "on" but are in a standby mode.  They broadcast more than just the weather - any emergency in an area - so it's worth keeping it tuned.

ArdraF
 
I have one at home but it is difficult to program.  Any recommendations on one good for travel?
 
Several months ago while camping at Recreation Plantation just outside the Villages, Lady Lake FL. a tornado warning was issued both on the weather channel & my weather radio. Since I couldn't find any storm warning info on their brochure, I called the office to see if the rest rooms nearby were the place to go (could not tell if they were block or not). It was just after hours so the answering service said they'd convey the question and return my call. I said to try to make it fast as I only had about ten minutes to wait. They never returned my call! So I put he cat in a carrier & took the car to the bath house to ride it out-DW wouldn't leave. It apparently didn't touch down there but was a very bad rain/wind event non the less. You could see rotation in the clouds.

Since they had a killer tornado just at the end of their street about 4 years ago, you would think Recreatioin Plantation would help provide for their guests some semblance of security-guess not! Just collect the bucks and hope for the best. From here on I will check out the buildings for a storm shelter-if they exist-and ask face to face for the place to go if needed. At least at Disney they tell you up front the rest rooms are safe rooms in a storm.

BTW Schoolsout2 if you have a Winnie product your in-dash radio probably has a WB (weather band) channel built in-just turn it on! Safe travels!
 
OOps-Just noticed you don't have a Winnie-but you may have the fairly common RV in-dash radio that should have the WB.
 

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