Oh such a tragedy! At that campground in Arkansas.... so sad all those campers and tenters were asleep when the floodwaters hit. Many of the tents were down on a low area on a bend in the river and could not even get back up the hill to where their cars were parked.....
Some of the rv lists were discussing it and here are a few thoughts...
- many campgrounds are located close to water in low lying areas, with only ONE road out, which could easily be blocked by floods, mud slides or forest fires, know your area and think ahead of escape routes
- realize gullies and arroyos and sand bars along riverbanks were MADE by rushing waters, and could very well be filled up again in no time, so don't camp in them, even if they are dry at the moment.
- get a weather radio that runs off batteries, not just for boondocking, but as you may have power outages even in a campground with hookups, no power means no reports via weather radio or television
- keep a printed off copy of the NOAA codes for all counties where you might be travelling through, to program your radio to, otherwise you may get NOAA reports for places 100 or more miles away... that don't apply to your area
- most of all, make sure your weather radio is ON overnight!
We have 2 weather radios, one at home and one in the rig. That way we never ever forget to take it along. The one in the rig is a rechargeable battery and the one at home has a battery backup.
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