RV parks suffer widespread destruction from Hurricane Helene

While there’s never a “good” time for a devastating weather event, for RV park owners, Hurricane Helene came at one of the worst. With snowbird season just getting ready to roll, Helene’s destructive visit has been a gut-punch. Here’s a roundup of information gathered by RV park and campground publisher, Woodall’s.

Several RV parks through Helene’s path have reported total destruction, while many others show damages ranging from heavy to more of a nuisance.

Helene’s destruction may have hit the Carolinas the hardest

“It’s devastating,” Dee Witting, executive director of the Carolinas Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CARVC), told Woodall’s. She added search and rescue teams were still scouring mountain communities across the region late Monday.

While gulf hurricanes typically do serious damage at the point of impact, Helene took another approach, devastating communities farther along its path. The hurricane dumped up to 30 inches of rain across the Carolinas. Many campground operators in mountain areas were still cut off from civilization late Monday, according to Witting’s report to Woodall’s. People are unable to travel roadways that landslides, fallen trees, and floodwaters have blocked.

North Carolina’s Mountain Stream RV Park in Marion told readers on its Facebook page that the park has been totally destroyed. Other parks, says Dee Witting, were hit with downed trees which blocked roads, damaged cabins, and other property. At least six RV parks and campgrounds across the two Carolina states took severe damage. Sadly, one person died at a campground in South Carolina.

“Most campgrounds are still without power. Many are without water,” Witting said, adding that she was working with CARVC’s lobbyists to ensure that state officials are aware of the damage suffered by campground and RV park operators and include them in emergency funding requests for recovery efforts.

KOA parks took a hit in North Carolina. “With more than 50 campgrounds in the storm’s path, the effects have varied,” Toby O’Rourke, told Woodall’s. She added, “We expect to have a clearer understanding of the overall damage in the coming days. However, we do know that our Asheville East KOA Holiday and Jonesborough/Cherokee NF KOA Journey were among those severely impacted.” O’Rourke is KOA’s CEO.

Elsewhere in the Carolinas, Woodall’s made these specific reports.

• Spacious Skies Bear Den in Spruce Pine, N.C.: The park is currently closed while area and property cleanup continues.
• Spacious Skies Hidden Creek in Marion, N.C.: This park is currently without power and water, but expects utilities to be back up within a week to 10 days. It is accepting campers on a boondocking basis who have been displaced by the storm or are working in relief efforts.
• Spacious Skies Peach Haven in Gaffney, S.C.: This park is currently without power and water, but expects those services to be back up within a week to 10 days. It’s also accepting campers on a boondocking basis who have been displaced by the storm or are working in relief efforts.

Florida hit first, mixed damages

“This is the third time in 13 months that the Big Bend of Florida, specifically the Steinhatchee and Cedar Key areas, have received a direct impact, or were on the bad side of the storm,” wrote Bobby Cornwell, executive director and CEO of the Florida RV Park and Campground Association (FARVC). He made that statement in an email to members on Monday.

“The storm surge and flooding was severe for coastal communities from Sarasota to Panacea. Tampa and Clearwater received bad flooding, and some parks are still underwater in certain areas, including Nature’s Resort in Homosassa, which had significant flooding. Power outages are sporadic, but power is being restored quickly in most areas.

“The areas of Perry and Madison, north of where the storm made impact, were hit hard by strong winds, but most of the parks in Madison came out ok. The Madison RV and Golf Resort is open, the Station RV Resort is open, and Ragan’s Family Campground is expected to reopen on October 6,” Cornwell summed up.

Closing advice from Ho-Hum RV Park

If your plans include an RV park visit to the area visited by Helene, best call and check on the park’s status. It might just be like this one. Sixty miles west of Helen’s landfall sits Ho-Hum RV park in Carrabelle, Florida. Perhaps living up to its name, Ho-Hum took minor flooding, and suffered no lasting damage to its infrastructure. The park reopened Sunday.

RELATED

• Donations requested to help RV parks devastated by Hurricane Helene

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