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Video: Scary! Tropical storm nearly sends RVs parked on beach out to sea!

A tidal surge in Port Aransas, Texas, from Tropical Storm Cristobal nearly took dozens of RVers and tent campers out to sea on June 7th.

Cristobal hammered the south spanning from Texas to Florida with storm surge flooding and strong wind gusts when it made landfall on June 7th. The storm nearly erased the drought along the Gulf Coast in a week’s time. In Shell Beach, Louisiana, tide levels reached 6.2 feet above their normal levels.

Watch the video below as dozens of beach campers had their tents and RVs flooded and trapped by the tidal surge. Yikes! You might want to fast forward to about two minutes into the video, that’s where you’ll start seeing most of the damage. We hope everyone is safe!

Emily Woodbury
Emily Woodburyhttps://www.rvtravel.com
Emily Woodbury is the editor here at RVtravel.com. She was lucky enough to grow up alongside two traveling parents, one domestically by RV (yep, Chuck Woodbury) and the other for international adventures, and has been lucky to see a great deal of our world (and counting!). She lives near Seattle with her dog and chickens. When she's not cranking out 365+ newsletters for RVtravel.com she's hiking, cooking or, well, probably traveling.

Comments

  1. A look at all the garbage going in the ocean. Do you think these people are going to pick up there stuff left behind? Makes me mad to see this video!

    • This is on the same intelligence level of people riding a paddle board on shark infested ocean water. A perfect example of no common sense.

    • If you believe in evolution please explain why after all these years buzzards haven’t evolved enough to drag the road kill off to the side of the road where they could feed in peace instead they leave it where they are constantly interrupted. It’s not because they’re not big enough, they’re a large bird.

  2. I don’t understand people who don’t pay attention to the weather where they’re camping. When a storm is coming towards you, it’s a good idea to move to higher ground. We have a similar problem here on the Tennessee River where some campgrounds are subject to semi-regular flooding when there are storms. If you’re staying in one of them and there’s been a lot of rain up river, odds are you should move.

  3. Hi again, also regarding comments about insurance fraud. I worked for an insurance company as a travel magazine writer. Most, if not all, will NOT cover any damages incurred in situations like this. This is considered driving off-road. Your vehicle will NOT be covered for ANYTHING, including recovery costs.

  4. Port Aransas, not Arkansas. A common mistake. It’s near Padre Island Seashore, or thereabouts. Last time I was on the beach there were signs warning not to drive onto the sand, or you could get stuck. hmm

  5. People park their rigs on the beach when they know a storm is approaching for ONLY one reason…

    To claim insurance money. FRAUD!

    Nobody is that stupid.

    The weather channels had been forecasting 7 days out. It was reported on multiple channels at all times of the day.

    You can bet that park rangers and City police drove by and told people about the impending storm.

    People had to buy a permit to camp on the beach. (Why are they selling passes when they know a storm is approaching? Money. That’s why)

    Stupid is…Stupid does….These RV owners don’t care how much trash or pollution this creates in our waters. They don’t even care about the RV.

    Prison time and minimal fines of $10,000 should reduce this stupidity.

    There is already a statuate on insurance fraud.

      • Ha ha, Bob! The proofreader doesn’t even drink coffee, let alone take a coffee break. But maybe I should — would have been more alert when I skimmed over that part. Sometimes our eyes/brain register what should be there, not what’s actually there. Sorry! —Diane at RVtravel.com

    • That might have been Emily’s spellchecker, but this proofreader’s eyes/brain didn’t register it as “Arkansas” — I saw “Aransas”. Too tired, I guess. Sorry. 🙁 —Diane at RVtravel.com

  6. Never quite understood why folks park their rigs on the beach. I mean…. heard of tides? (Yes, I know this was a storm.) Just seems WAY too risky, honestly. At least for me. I’m not “risk averse”, per se, but maybe with my home, I might be.

    • In that area, the sand is like concrete. One could drive an 80,000 lb truck and trailer without a problem. Yes, you have to park near the berms to stay out of the tides. You have to have a permit during this time of the year. Don’t park in a gully where the tides flow.

      I won’t park on the Texas beach due to salt corrosion. Anyone with a nice rig that they respect would not do it. Salt in the bearings, leaf springs, suspension systems, the metal frames, etc will damage the RV and cost you money.

      The sand that gets brought in wil damage the carpet or tile flooring.

      The strong winds currents will damage the exterior paint. Its like sandblasting.

      Unless you have a sizable A/C, you will fry inside during the late spring, summer and early fall periods.

      Maybe you would do it for a day or two. We paid too much and we’re too old to make that mistake.

      • Your last part of your comment says the whole idea, it’s not that you’re to old to make that mistake, you have more common sense to not make that mistake. That seems to be something that been omitted from the gene pool in recent generations.

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