PopUp Times

Mine was this past Friday evening.
I was'nt camping but got it set up at the local WalMart at the fireworks tent.
The first small one that came I was'nt there and they were fighting the tent from high winds that they forgot to zip the windows up.Can you say ''SOAKED MATRESS".
Anyway,I showed up later and then another one hit,I think even worse,I got in the camper zip up all the windows.It rained like a monsoon for a few minutes and the wind was so hard,I could hardly believe that the canvas was giving that much without ripping.The wind was so strong it forced the rain right thru the canvas webbing,that was some strong wind.
I have it treated with 303,so when I took a towel and dried it,it felt dry.

Another storm came thru yesterday,so I put the camper down till it was over,but it was'nt as bad.

While camped at Occoneechee State Park (Clarksville, VA) on Kerr Lake, my PUP endured 50 mph winds and short torrential rains - lots of billowing of the canvas, and some swaying of the PUP - bunks rose/fell like being in a boat in water, and the awning/add-a-room had me very worried.  Only lasted about 20 minutes, but very harrowing!  After the storm passed, the only 'damage' was the add-a-room had pulled loose from the awning velcro in several spots (I'd opened all the flaps to allow the wind to pass through).  The wind/rain carried alot of silt and I had to hose the canvas to clean it off.  No leaks though.

Another time - again on Kerr Lake, while at Hibernia campground, we had a freak storm in the middle of the night.  I had the awning set up and the add-a-room, and I heard the wind's roar and had my grandson out holding the awning poles while I tied the awning/add-a-room down and staked it....pretty ferocious - but by the time we finished tying down, etc., the winds quit!

Here at home just last year, had the PUP set up for cleaning in the driveway, and saw the dark clouds - so installed the door on the PUP, and started taking pictures.....the tongue was facing my house.  High winds/wind sheer and heavy rain hit fast so went inside and was taking pictures from a back window - looked out again and it wasn't the tongue facing my house, but the spare tire!  Storm passed and I went out to see if I was nuts - the tongue chock was still on the ground where the tongue had been, but the PUP had been spun around 180 degrees - missing was the battery box cover, outside vent covers and, two wheel chocks.  Found the wheel chocks.  About that time, I heard a creaking and turned around and a cedar tree came down and somehow managed to land on my Durango.  Evidently in it's fall, a stick broke off and flew into the roof of the camper.  I didn't notice this until I went to close the camper as I'd thought it was just another mud splat.  Thank heavens for insurance - had to replace the entire roof.

Our worst storm in the PUP was two weeks ago in Custer State Park, South Dakota.  Hail came down so hard it knocked water through the canvas on the bunk ends.  In the end there was no hail damage, but boy was it LOUD while it was coming down!   :yikes:   Fortunately, the storm blew through fast.  :)

(http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/44227/2568709880103699803S425x425Q85.jpg) (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2568709880103699803klTFSg)

This one may not have been the worst storm but it was odd. My DW and I were outside of our PU at the Eastern Rally in 2006 in NY getting ready for a storm. While we were picking up and getting ready there was a strange sound off away. We looked each other puzzled until it hit. The sound was the very heavy rain coming in the distance.

Now's the time to speak up with some real storm stories, Wavery.

I will never forget it.  I was a kid camping with my family in Chincoteague, VA.  Middle of the night (of course), my dad heard it coming and I helped him tie our pup to the nearest trees.  I still cannot believe it didn't rip apart.  We hid out in the car until it blew over, but there was a couple camping next to us in one of those Army style pup tents....needless to say they spent the night in their car and left the next day with a very damaged tent.  

We found out the next day a tornado had been spotted close by....yikes.

Quote from: stewartlittleMine was this past Friday evening.
I was'nt camping but got it set up at the local WalMart at the fireworks tent.

Hey stewartlittle, you wouldn't by chance be in Oakwood, Georgia, would you?

In February '97, I traveled to the Outer Banks of NC solo to just get away for a weekend. I parked the pup in one direction, not really thinking about the wind. A nor'easter blew through that night, shaking the roof quite hard most of the night (I don't think I ever went to sleep). It was quite chilly, so I turned on the strip heat in the a/c, as well as ran an electric bathroom heater to stay warm.

The wind was so strong, it was blowing into the back of the a/c unit and almost forcing the condenser fan to a halt. So all night long, I laid there listening to the fan almost stop, then speed up again, only to slow back down to a crawl again.

If I had only known, I could have set up on a site facing the opposite direction. Then the wind would have flowed over the front of the a/c unit, not affecting the fan.

Our worst by far was in April at Delaware Seashore State Park.  It had been fairly windy all day with a couple of thunderstorms (not severe) but it settled down around bedtime.  We were all awakened by the wind making a very strange  whistling noise as it blew over the camper but the camper wasn't rocking much so we went back to sleep.  In the middle of the night DH woke up to see that one of the cinderblocks that we use to weight down the awning (mason's line tied to the front rail on either side of the poles, use the blocks instead of stakes)was suspended 4 feet in the air (eldest son witnessed this also).  I myself slept through this until they woke me to go outside and help roll up the awning before it tore away from the camper.  The front rail was bent but DH was able to straighten it enough so that it would zip into the bag.  

More scary than being out in the wind rolling up the thing was my other DS decided he HAD to make a trip to the bathroom during all of this 'excitement'.  I was terrified that he and DH would get hit with some kind of flying debris while they ran over to the restroom!

I checked the internet when we got home and found there were sustained winds of 40 and gusts of 55.

Thankfully, no one was hurt and other than the awning rail, no damage was done.  DH patched up the metal rail with some kind of sheet metal reinforcements and while it looks strange, it works!

Needless to say, we learned our lesson and now pack in the awning as soon as the breeze turns into a wind!

Twice.
 
In my previous 2005 Rockwood 2290 PUP. I was in Hot Springs, Ark during Katrina. I had the Carefree of Colorado awning poles to the sides of the camper. The awning was a sail and shifted the roof back and forth. However got the awning down and not much problem. No water because the Vinolon synthetic canvas was vinyl coated.
 
 
Starcraft was setup in the driveway. We had 3 tornados come through town and 60 - 70 mph wind gusts. Driving rain and small hail. Wind gust picked up the front bunk and a pole came out, but the ring platform pole set was taking the weight while the pole that came out had no weight on it to keep it in place.
 
No water in this one as well as the synthetic tarp is vinyl embedded. The bunkend window flaps are breathable and not vinyl, however after having my girlfriend hose the bunkend down, only a very light mist came through with the hose only inches from the flap. Being I have 50 psi pressure, that was pretty good containment IMO for a canvas that wasn't vinyl coated but only had a waterproofing.
 
I've been very impressed with how these newer PUPs handle terrible storms.
 
Have a good one.

Not camping related, but we were stuck in Cancun, Mx during Hurricane Wilma.  We were on our honeymoon.  Had three wonderful days until we were put into the shelter on the property where we were staying.  After four nights in the shelter, had to get bussed over to Merida, a 12 hour ride through the middle of the night to an operating airport.  Got to Mexico City from there, by the good fortune to have an actual travel agent in the states with access to the travel system.  People that had those online reservation companies were stuck as the phone systems were sketchy, banking systems, and such did not work.
It was so good to be back in Los Angeles after all of that.

John

1st trip out this year last month in Turkey Run State Park, Indiana a storm with straight line winds twisted a 85 foot tree next to our 2001 Coleman Mesa and fell on the ABS roof.
No one was hurt. We talked the DNR into bringing in an endloader to lift the tree up and pulled the camper out from underneath the tree.
We lowered the roof and drove the camper home 100 hundred miles away.
Our insurance company totalled the camper, but were gracious enough to allow us to use it one more time on a scheduled outing. After lots of duct tape and a tube of caulk along with 2x4's to support the roof we used it one last time in southern Missourri.
The only problem we ever had with the ABS roof was a tree!
Just brought home a 2007 Jayco 12HW tonight and looking forward to heading out next week again.
Happy Camping to all!

Quote from: 2popup1st trip out this year last month in Turkey Run State Park, Indiana a storm with straight line winds twisted a 85 foot tree next to our 2001 Coleman Mesa and fell on the ABS roof.
No one was hurt.

Glad to see you weren't hurt. We were thinking of going to Turkey Run this year as I haven't been there since Highschool for post prom.
 
We'll just be carefull how we park next to the trees.
 
Glad you weren't hurt, have a good one.

The worst storm I was in was just last week. I told the wife that I was going camping with some buddies but took the girl from work. She called my buddies wife to ask her something and wanted to know where we all went on our camping trip. Well, come to find out, Ray, answered the phone and was caught totally by suprise!!! He mentioned to his wife before my wife called about a friend going camping up a Rivers Run Campground . From what I can gather, he was flustered and gave the phone to his wife , who in turn "mentioned" the name of the campgroung. Well, I was sure suprised when you know who showed up. First and fore most, nothing happened between this person and myself...
Talk about a massive front moving in!!! I would have rather been in a hurricane or tornado than to suffer the wrath of a women!!! Talk about lightening and Hail...well you ain't seen nothing folks ...lightening bolts shot out of her eyes and right into me.....
To make a long story short, I'm looking for a new pop-up and a new place to put it so I have a place to live!!! :banghead:

The  ABOVE story really DIDN'T happen...I was just interjecting a bit of laughter...
 Have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of JULY folks!!!!!!!!!! :-()

DW & I used to canoe-camp. 'Bout 6 years ago we paddled upriver to a lake with numerous campsites. DW wanted one particular site, I told her it wasn't a good location because it was on the western end of an island, was unprotected,  and would catch any storm coming off the lake. When we got there it was a moot point - the site was taken so we found another one on the east side of the island.

Fast forward to the evening. A pretty fierce thunderstorm blew through. We battened down the hatches and were OK on our site. There were some pretty close lightning strikes, the flash & boom were real close together. After it blew through it cleared up and we decided to take an evening paddle.

On the site DW wanted there was a couple in shell shock. A big slab of pine was laying on the ground by their tent. The guy said lightning hit it and there tent was maybe 10' from the tree. His fishing poles were leaning against the tree and were scorched.

The next day they were gone. DW never said anything about trying that site again.

Quote from: Mike UpGlad to see you weren't hurt. We were thinking of going to Turkey Run this year as I haven't been there since Highschool for post prom.
 
We'll just be carefull how we park next to the trees.
 
Glad you weren't hurt, have a good one.

The ironic thing about the tree is after we finished setting up and were admiring the nicely wooded area I noticed a old tree that was about 3/4 dead with large holes in it and only a little live growth on the top portion. I mentioned that if a storm came through that it would probably fall. Wrong! The tree that snapped was behind the camper healthy as could be until it was twisted around by the wind and fell the opposite way of the wind! BAD KARMA on my part that day.
We are looking forward to going back to Turkey Run this fall for another outing. I have told my youngest daughter whom was walking out of the camper and ducked to the ground as tree was falling onto the camper that the chances of this happening a second time have to be pretty slim.
She still wants us to be tree free in the future.
We now have another campfire story to share enjoy your outings!

This spring while trout fishing we had a real pounding, drenching, rain storm. I went to bed just as the storm hit at about 11. About 3 AM nature called and I went outside to do  my business. To my surprise the awning was almost hitting my head. The awning was not set to enough of an angle and had collected about 50 or more gallons of H2O. The center horizontal pole was U shaped. I pushed water off the awning and standing there in my slippers it washed back around and soaked me and drowned my astro turf rug with sand and dirt. I eventually got enough water off the awning that I could get the pole off and take it in the camper to straighten it. Took it back out, lowered the awning, get back into the camper dry off then realize I never did what I entered to do in the first place. So back out I go getting soaked again, use the facilities, get back in, dry off, hit the sack ,and it quits raining. I did have to re-straighten the pole when I got home but was surprised how much water this awning could hold without collapsing. While my PU stayed dry inside and I had no other problems, I did see the tenters in the campground took to their vehicles, not so much because their tents did not stop the rain but because there was so much water it got in their tents from the ground......Shredder

Quote from: 2popup1st trip out this year last month in Turkey Run State Park, Indiana a storm with straight line winds twisted a 85 foot tree next to our 2001 Coleman Mesa and fell on the ABS roof.
No one was hurt. We talked the DNR into bringing in an endloader to lift the tree up and pulled the camper out from underneath the tree.
We lowered the roof and drove the camper home 100 hundred miles away.
Our insurance company totalled the camper, but were gracious enough to allow us to use it one more time on a scheduled outing. After lots of duct tape and a tube of caulk along with 2x4's to support the roof we used it one last time in southern Missourri.
The only problem we ever had with the ABS roof was a tree!
Just brought home a 2007 Jayco 12HW tonight and looking forward to heading out next week again.
Happy Camping to all!

Unbelievable. We were in site #187, probably 200 yards from your site that evening. My DW and I had our son, his wife and their 2 daughters, plus our daughter and her DH in our pup. The wind kicked up and we were discussing if we should head for the shower house, when it slowed down. About 15 minutes later the backhoe came past our site down the loop. A short time later, we saw the damaged pup being pulled out with the top still up. We were so happy to hear that no one was injured. We walked around much of the cg that evening. Two pickups were damaged and a bathhouse roof was crushed besides your damaged pup. The power didn't come on until about 10:00 pm Saturday night.
I hope you have better fortune with the Jayco. Glad to hear you are not giving up.
Happy camping.

Ours was a few years ago at Cherrystone Campground in VA.... storm was awful. pop up's flipped over, tents ripped apart, trees down etc...  Then no electric, bathrooms closed and pools closed . fun trip:)

My worst storm experience since getting the popup was just last weekend. Since I had both a pop-up and boat/trailer at the park over the holiday weekend, I took the family and camper home on Sunday. I went back to the campground by myself with a one-person single-wall bicycle touring tent so I could spend the night and enjoy one more day of fishing.  The storms started at 4:00 A.M. and it rained continuously until 11:20 A.M..  The tent campsite was covered with standing water, and I had to pour the water out of the floor of the tent before I could hang it up from a lantern post to drain completely.  The afternoon partially cleared up, and an afternoon of fishing made up for the wet night of sleep.

Quote from: K_and_IUnbelievable. We were in site #187, probably 200 yards from your site that evening. My DW and I had our son, his wife and their 2 daughters, plus our daughter and her DH in our pup. The wind kicked up and we were discussing if we should head for the shower house, when it slowed down. About 15 minutes later the backhoe came past our site down the loop. A short time later, we saw the damaged pup being pulled out with the top still up. We were so happy to hear that no one was injured. We walked around much of the cg that evening. Two pickups were damaged and a bathhouse roof was crushed besides your damaged pup. The power didn't come on until about 10:00 pm Saturday night.
I hope you have better fortune with the Jayco. Glad to hear you are not giving up.
Happy camping.

I was impressed with the Indiana DNR folks as when the enloader came to lift one side of the tree off of the camper so did several DNR employees who moved the coolers and all the extra stuff out from under the tree while I was pulling the camper out.  Even though the owners manual does not recomend pulling the camper when the top is up it can be done :)
What amazed me is that the lift system still worked and the ABS roof (after a little force) sealed up to tow home.
One of the reasons I always have loved to camp is all the wonderful folks who are always willing to assist, lend a hand, or a little bit of empathy when one is very wet and needs a smile!
Thanks for your response and maybe we will see you next year.... although we might choose a more treeless site down the loop.  thanks

Quote from: 2popupI was impressed with the Indiana DNR folks as when the enloader came to lift one side of the tree off of the camper so did several DNR employees who moved the coolers and all the extra stuff out from under the tree while I was pulling the camper out.  Even though the owners manual does not recomend pulling the camper when the top is up it can be done :)
What amazed me is that the lift system still worked and the ABS roof (after a little force) sealed up to tow home.
One of the reasons I always have loved to camp is all the wonderful folks who are always willing to assist, lend a hand, or a little bit of empathy when one is very wet and needs a smile!
Thanks for your response and maybe we will see you next year.... although we might choose a more treeless site down the loop.  thanks

Again, what a small world. We would like to go again. It's about a 6 hour drive for us, but our daughter and son-in-law live about 3 hours into IL, so it worked as a "half way" point (you know how half way works between parents and kids). Here is a picture of our site that weekend, about 200 yards closer to the dump station than yours:



Maybe we can meet next year.

Ok - haven't been here in awhile and am late on this topic BUT...

Mother's Day 2008 @ Pomme de'Terre Lake, MO - Tornado warnings all afternoon with the accompanying rain, hail, and wind. That was followed by a night of 45 mph wind gusts all night. The conditions were bad enough that we couldn't safely fold up the camper, so we waited out the warnings in a nearby shelter and then battened down the hatches and rode the winds out in the camper. We could hear the winds coming through the trees and count down until it shook the camper. I had backed the truck up to the camper so that it broke the wind up and over the front bunk rather than getting under it. No one in our group slept much that night, but no one had any major damage.


David

NT THE WORST BUT LAST May it rained daily for 2 weeks. some times very hard with thunder/lighting & sometime steady drizzle.
My Jayco took it well. No leaks what so ever.

I can remember in the mid to late seventies when i was a kid my parents had a very vintage pup.  It had two doors on top that opened up like a box top.  There was a canvas tent that sat on top of the unit and the doors were the beds on either side.  We went to Fenwick Island Delaware for our summer outing.  There was a storm that blew in and lasted all night.  Mom and Dad went from side to side to hold down the side that was coming up the most.  I remember thinking this must be what Dorthy must have felt like.  Scary times.

My worst storm was in June of 1994. "Queens Birthday Storm".

We were sailing from Tonga to New Zealand in our 45' Passport Ketch "Kanani".

It's a long story and if you are interested, here is an account of the storm:
http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/qbs.pdf

We sat on our parachute sea anchor for 3 days. There were 7 other yachts and 3 lives lost in that storm. There were 21 rescues all together. It was the most dramatic rescue effort ever mounted on several different small vessels like ours.

We listened to our SSB radio as all of these injuries and rescues took place. There wasn't a thing that we could do as a boat 15 miles from us rolled over and all hands were lost.

The wind was blowing in access of 115MPH. The seas were 50-80' and breaking everywhere. The lightening and thunder was so intense that it was nearly impossible to communicate with the person right next to you. To my knowledge, we were the only vessel in the storm that was equipped with a parachute sea anchor. I would never go to sea without one.

We have been very fortunate weather wise, the past 2 years that we have had our PU we seem to get very lucky storm wise, and we camp a lot during the summer where storms pop up with no notice. I do however, have a funny story regarding our awning. Our 2nd or 3rd outing we had a pretty good rain most of the night and our awning was out and basically became a huge water reservoir. When I saw it I could not believe it did not burst or tip the entire PU. There had to have been at least 50 gallons of water held in the awning. Well while the kids watched (and I am sure half the camp ground) I thought it would be a good Idea to try and drain it slow into a 5 gallon bucket and that way we could dump the water further away from our front entrance. Well we got the water to start draining, but then we couldn't stop the faucet. Wifey and I received a blast of very cold water, it was only 6am, we were in our PJ's, it not only soaked us completely but the rush of water to the ground shot mud up to our heads. Every time we set up the awning one of the kids always starts to laugh and asks "remember when it rained".

Here what was left of my camper at the outer banks n.c in 03 this was on my son brithday[IMhttp://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/11978/2923710170102012557S425x425Q85.jpgG]

Wolfpack.....we'll try that again:
(http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/11978/2923710170102012557S425x425Q85.jpg)