Pleasure Island RV Park probably didn’t live up to its name when a huge EF-3 tornado blasted through on Saturday. The park, near Port Arthur, Texas, suffered heavy damage, and some RVers were trapped inside their rigs. At least six rigs were tossed around like toys as the Texas tornado blasted a half-mile-wide track of destruction.
Texas tornado dumps travel trailer in pond
Timmy Creel recalled how his rig fared as the big twister blasted through. “It hailed a little bit, and it got worse and worse and we couldn’t get out of the camper,” Creel related to 12newsnow.com. “It moved it a little bit and turned it up a little bit on its side,” he said. “When the wind kind of died down I seen a camper upside down.”
Upside down, indeed. One travel trailer was lifted up and dumped in a pond. Fire department responders included a diver who was dispatched to see if anyone had gone in the water with the rig. Happily, it appeared that no one was inside when the big wind dunked it.
After looking through the park’s devastation, Port Arthur’s Mayor Thurman Bartie summed up the damage to RVs there. “Two were I think basically totally destroyed,” he said. “Four others, I think they could be probably repaired and livable again.”
Storm makes a long trip to spin off tornado
The storm system that spawned the devastating Texas tornado made quite a trip to get to Port Arthur. It started out in Brazoria County, some 130 miles southwest of the fated city.
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It appears no one was injured or worse in this devastating storm. By the grace of God I guess. Sadly a lot of expensive damage in any case. Was there no shelter in this park?
Hi, Doug. I looked it up online and didn’t see any storm shelter listed at this park, just “climate-controlled bathhouses and laundry.” Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane
Hi Diane thank you for that. If traveling in storm prone areas, it would be a good idea to check on storm shelters – just in case! Rv’s are no place to be in windstorms.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! My goodness, that was quite a storm! I am glad that no one was seriously hurt. I hope that the damaged RVs were all insured. Happy new year and safe travels! 🙂