Hurricane irma

[southga31757]

I have a new to me lil snoozy, expecting tropical storm winds here in southwest georgia and dont want snoozy toppled over or blown away. I have thought about filling gray and fesh tanks with water and parking it between neighbors house and mine. Should i tie it down or should that be enough?

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by southga31757

.. Should i tie it down or should that be enough?

No one can say. It might be fine if you do nothing. Or it might be totally destroyed no matter what you do. No one can tell exactly where Irma is going or how strong it will be when it gets there. Its still about four days from you. Filling the tanks might help a little but not a great deal. Parking it where it is well sheltered from trees and flying debris is a very good idea*. The only thing that we know for sure is enough to protect it is to move it out of any possible storm path, perhaps Tennessee or points west (although based on the latest forecast going NE might be good). But evacuation is already difficult in some areas. If you have heavy chains where you can chain the frame to a good anchor that might keep in a place but it could still be torn apart. So my priority would be avoiding tree branches, debris and if low lying area, flooding.

* I had the great pleasure of working out of an automobile in Charlotte NC when hurricane Hugo hit. At one point I had to park between two brick buildings because of all the flying debris. Some of the other cars in the fleet did suffer damage such as broken windshields. I am just glad that the buildings I was parked between did not collapse.

[Jon in AZ]

Gordon's advice is good- damage from flooding and/or tree branches is most worrisome. Parked between buildings, with a low profile and wide track, your Snoozy is unlikely to flip. Instead of ballast, to keep it from rolling I would deploy stabilizers at all four corners and take some weight off the tires. I might also tape some bubble wrap over the big windows.

Most important, being new, make sure your insurance company knows about it and you have a policy in force.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

...I would deploy stabilizers at all four corners and take some weight off the tires. ...

Interesting point, I currently have my Scamp lifted to take a little weight off the tires but they are still in solid contact with the pavement and cannot be turned by hand. Some of the weight now is on two jack stands under the frame, and there are also four stabilizers and of course the tongue jack (without wheel). We might get winds high enough here to be a concern so I was wondering if it was better to leave it as is, or to lower it back down so most of the weight was back on the axle, and then use stabilizers at all corners. I might be wrong but I think it is better as is, with the wheels that could rotate not the only weight bearing spot, and the multiple points of support on the frame.

In any event, remember not to overload stabilizers. Use them only to stabilize. YMMV as I do not know how the Snoozy is equipped.

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Most important, being new, make sure your insurance company knows about it and you have a policy in force.

Very good point of course. I just assumed that anyone who needed to insurance their property, or thought they should insure it, would have done so already. I would not be surprised if your insurance company balks at writing a policy only hours before a record breaking hurricane hits.

[Jon in AZ]

You're right about last-minute insurance, of course. I was under the impression this was a brand new trailer. I presume there would have been some discussions with the insurance company ahead of delivery. I was really just meaning to check in and make sure the process was complete and coverage initiated.

Our prayers are with all in the path of Irma. I experienced a couple of tropical storms growing up in Maryland, but never a hurricane.

PS- I agree. As you have it on jack stands is probably more stable.

[David B.]

David, if you can not chain the trailer down, then leave it connected to the tow vehicle to keep it from being pushed by high winds.
Dave & Paula

[tractors1]

I might also temporarily flatten the tires to help resist any rolling and lessen the airflow underneath due to winds.

[gordon2]

BTW, I am on a well here and that requires electricity, which often goes out in major storms. So I have filled the camper's fresh water tank. If it looks bad I will also fill the gray water tank... I can use that water to flush the commodes in the house, bringing in a bucket at a time. Of course that is in addition to filling the bathtubs, etc.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by gordon2

BTW, I am on a well here and that requires electricity, which often goes out in major storms. So I have filled the camper's fresh water tank. If it looks bad I will also fill the gray water tank... I can use that water to flush the commodes in the house, bringing in a bucket at a time. Of course that is in addition to filling the bathtubs, etc.

One of these covers comes in handy to drain the gray tank with a garden hose: Termination Cap with Hose Connector - Valterra T1020-1 - Sewer Fittings & Adapters - Camping World

[southga31757]

Thanks for the great advice yall. I dont know why i didnt think about attatching it to the truck. I just installed stabilizer jacks last weekend, so glad i did

[Byron Kinnaman]

If it were me I'd hook up and head for someplace out the path of Irma. I can say that because I'm retired. But you might consider taking some off to do that.

[Byron Kinnaman]

On second thought I wouldn't worry.

[Bruce Thomas]

This is a serious storm and I don't believe their low wind projections on the map for most of Florida

[FishingBob]

I'm like David as a new owner (completely new for me) but a 2014 Parkliner in my case. New forecast probably has the Atlanta area here expecting several hours of tropical storm force winds (35+) and I'm gathering from the advice to David that between my choices of:1) storage lot (end of short row - open over to a building 30 ft away) with four stabilizers down or
2) my driveway hooked to 4Runner (with stabilizers down?) with as much limb clean up as I can do,
most would favor the storage lot? Only been there once and didn't see a lot of stuff around but I could check that out before taking the trailer over.


Thanks for any advice. I expected a learning curve but this learning part wasn't really planned. Fortunately I did get insurance set up.

[emers382]

David

I don't know if you are anywhere close to where our Escape is parked at Uchee Creek at Fort Benning. I left it last night hooked up to truck fresh tank filled all stabilizers tightly down and other than slim possibility of one of the big trees coming down on it think we are good.

With storm about half done and only losing power about an hour on post I'm hopeful we'll find all OK when we return to trailer in AM

Hope your Snoozy comes through OK

Adrian

[yjstahl]

Leave