An Airstream trailer flew the length of a football field. What superhuman footballer was responsible? The same one that wiped out dozens of RVs at a Claremore, Oklahoma, KOA over Memorial Day weekend. Call that “player” an EF-2 tornado, and thanks to the foresight of the RV park owners, nobody was killed in the scrimmage.
Asleep one minute, running for their lives the next
The Will Rogers Downs KOA at Claremore has spaces for 190 RVs. Last Saturday night was close to a full house: 146 of the sites were filled with RVs of all varieties. It must have been a typical day at the KOA, but after 11 p.m, things got a bit out of hand. One couple, Matt and Anna Conners, were returning home to Pennsylvania after a cross-country motorhome trip. They were just drifting off to sleep when their cell phone alerted them to a tornado.
Matt and Anna scrambled out of their rig and ran to the park’s storm shelter. The door was already shut, but someone inside responded to their cries for help. Once inside, they huddled with dozens of other park visitors. They described the situation as surreal. Some in the shelter were crying, others just looked shocked. Outside, the big tornado which had blasted its way up Highway 20 hit the RV park like heavy artillery.
Airstream trailer flew the length of a football field
When the storm passed, the Conners and others stepped out of the shelter to what may well have looked like a war zone. RVs were turned every which way. Some rigs looked like they had been pushed over in some child’s “stack the dominoes” trick. An Airstream trailer flew the length of a football field and landed wheels up. About the only thing that was recognizable was the A-frame where it had once been attached to a tow rig, and the door, still standing upright.
As to the Conners’ rig? Their big Coachmen Class A was on its side. On Sunday, two large wreckers—as you might see at an 18-wheeler crash—were pressed into service to upright the unfortunate RV.
Thoroughbred casualty
The KOA wasn’t the only thing the twister tore up in Claremore. Next door at the big thoroughbred race track, roofs were lifted off and carried away from the stables. The racing season had just wound down, but several competitors were still stabled there. Sadly, one horse had to be put down due to injuries, and several others ended up under a veterinarian’s care. Dozens of others had to be relocated.
Happily, the Cherokee Tribal Nation, which developed the Will Rogers Downs KOA, had the foresight to put in the big storm shelter. Not all the KOA guests were able to make it to shelter in the precious little time between the tornado warning and the actual hit, but nobody was killed. Several, however, were injured. After the tornado pushed through, search and rescue crews descended on the park, using flashlights to look through gutted rigs for casualties.
As of today, power and water are still out. The campground is closed through June 5, and those with reservations will be getting refunds. As for Matt and Anna Conners? Their son flew in from California, rented a van, and helped them salvage their belongings from the trashed Class A. The couple says it might be a while before they consider buying another rig and hitting the road. Oklahoma proved to be just a bit too adventurous for them.
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One must wonder what posessed those people to camp right in the middle of Tornado Alley, pretty much at historical ground zero, at the height of tornado season in Tornado Alley. NWS was posting watches/warnings for the area as much as three days earlier.
I was thinking the same thing. You really have to read up on weather patterns before you do any long distance traveling. I think people are probably complacent or they think that kind of thing only happens to other people. This is so awful and I can’t imagine what these people are going through. I’m glad no one was killed (thank you, Cherokee Nation!) and I hope everyone had really good insurance.
What is tornado season? What states are included in this tornado alley? I want to know! Thanks
Tornado Season is perhaps April thru September. It happens when the hot air from the south comes north and hits the cold air from the north. Tornado Alley used to happen mostly throughout the center states, but now it can happen anywhere from the east side of the Rocky Mountains all the way to the East Coast; Montana down through New Mexico and east to New York down through Florida. Just be weather-aware wherever you are. (I have lived in north central Oklahoma for 76 years. I’ve seen a few tornados. Have taken shelter dozens of times, but only had 1 take out our barn when I was a kid.)
A map by state by month, March in Texas to Mississippi, spread north to Minnesota by June, then decrease in July in south of Minnesota then July overall drop off. Produces a high count for large states like Texas and low count for smaller states. Annual U.S death toll under 1k per year, vs 30k-40k for traffic accidents. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/permonth_by_state/
Agreed…little wonder why it’s called tornado alley…I know I have lived in Eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas a few times.
John, as a resident of Oklahoma and a fellow RV’er, I think I can answer part of your question. It’s the same reason people go West even though wildfires can burn them out of camp, earthquakes can ruin their journey and landslides can wash them down a hill.
RV’ing is about taking on life with all its headwinds and challenges and seeing things others can only dream.
Since we’re on the subject, RV’s are far more likely to get wrecked in a highway accident than by natural disaster yet we carry on!
Safe travels, wear your seatbelt!
Excellent point!
I understand this cannot apply to many people, but I no longer RV east of Colorado. No more Branson, no more NOLA, no more Nashville. Very sad, but there you have it.
Come on up to the Northeast! It’s very rare that we get a tornado and if we do, it’s very short-lived and not very destructive. We can get hurricanes but they do the most damage on the coast. So if you stay inland you will have a great time!
We get both in PA, just not as big an area. I live a mile from where one came thru. Same area a storm came thru and ripped the roof off a high rise in the same area.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 My goodness! I am so pleased that no one was injured, despite everyone not getting into the storm shelter before the tornado hit. Thank you for sharing this information! Wow! Have a great week and safe travels! 🙂
In April 2015, we were in a hilltop RV park near Mammoth Cave NP when a severe storm began. We were watching it move on the TV weather radar when a “hook echo” passed directly overhead. A funnel touched down 3 miles NE of us near I-65. After that experience, we have not ventured east of the Rockies again in spring.
Those in the Claremore KOA are very fortunate to lose only their RVs and not their lives. Hopefully, insurance will pay for replacing many of those RVs, if the owners want to continue RVing. Some may not after that much trauma, regardless of their age, which we can certainly understand.
In our travels we have encountered several storms and each time thanked God we all survived. Us Rvers are the adventurer’s and a little risk takers. we’ve in countered 5 different tornadoes, 1 in Winnimucca NV, 2 in Rapid City So. Dakota at the AFB they wouldn’t let our cat shelter with us so, we rode with Dorothy so to speak, 1 near MT.Home ,ID that one I kissed the ground when we got to the AFbase gate. And 1 in Georgia at the state park we lost our awning and had to gorilla tape it to the rig and patch the hole in the roof before we moved on. We drove into massive pop up rain storm with more than 6in water on hwy 95 we got lucky on that one, there was over 50 car pile up. Adventure on.
When you look at the area tornados hit it is a very small percentage of the area in Tornado Alley. 1 sq mile out of tens of thousands of sq miIes In Wisc near St Paul MN one passed overhead and never touched down. Fall of ’22 in New Boston TX the homeowner of the Boondockers Welcome we were staying at came knocking on our door just after dinner and we joined 3 other couples and the homeowner in their shelter area. Tornado touched down 3 miles away destroying a house and a factory. We were shaken but not stirred. Won’t let that stop us from crossing the country for a 24th time.