Many of you may have seen the news last Thursday that a campground in Virginia was hit with a devastating tornado. It was so bad that many people were injured and a few people died. Here's the link to an article about it (Confirmed Tornado: 2 dead, 36 hurt at campground along Va.'s Eastern Shore).
It's a good reminder that you always need to be aware of the weather specially when camping or hiking. One of the best ways to be informed is to always have a weather radio with you. One thing you want to do if you do have a weather radio, is make sure that the weather radio you take camping isn't set like the one at your house for your home area. Weather radios operate by allowing you to program SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) codes for your county/region. When NOAA issues an alert, it's sent out as a digital signal that includes the alert type, duration, and SAME codes for the areas it covers. At home, you typically set it to filter alerts to just SAME code for your county. If you are going to be camping in a place for an extended period of time, then you may want to set SAME codes for the area you are in. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. Just leave it with no codes so you'll get all alerts. You should be aware of the area you are so when it does alert you'll know if they're talking about somewhere 20 miles away or the area you are in. I like Midland radios. I have 2 of them. One I keep at home which could also be a base station in an RV/camper and, one portable that I take camping/hiking. The base station types will run on 120v with a battery backup. The portables run on either rechargeable packs or AA's (though you could use rechargeable AA's). No matter which one you get, make sure you carry one with you.
I also suggest getting a mobile weather app on your phone or tablet if you don't have one. I prefer ones with radar images so I can view the area and get a better idea of what's coming and what direction the bad weather is headed. Another feature available to some phones is NOAA's WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts). These are sent out like text messages to your phone if you're in an area where an alert is. Unfortunately, not all carriers or phones are supporting this yet. They just started rolling it out in 2012 so I think many people may not have newer phones that this will work with yet. Hopefully over the next couple of years most people will have phones that will work with this. If you want to find out more information and what your carrier supports, go to this page at the CTIA site.
The other thing that you want to keep in mind is where to go to be safe when the weather is bad. A camper is not a safe place and neither is a car. You want to know where the closest structure is like the bathhouse. You are safer in the bathhouse than your camper. Most bathhouses at parks are cinder block construction made to last for years. Huddling in the shower stall may just save your life. If you're not sure where to go or what structure might be the safest, ask the campground hosts or park rangers. If you're staying in a state or national park, it's a good idea to ask the rangers about what weather conditions to look out for or be aware of.
No matter what bad weather brings (tornado, hail, flash flooding, high winds, etc), you can be prepared and give yourself an edge by arming yourself with the correct technology and knowledge. Do you have a favorite weather app or other tips? Help your camping neighbors and leave a comment below! Share the knowledge; save a life.
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