It’s probably a story the insurance adjusters will talk about for some time to come. “My trailer was struck by lightning.” An RVer from Manitoba, Canada, says the story is true—and she has the ashes to prove it.
Lightning fell from the heavens
Last Saturday a big thunderstorm boomed its way through the Marchand, Manitoba, area. If Lisa Hettrick heard the thunder, it didn’t register. But the next morning she got a phone call that made all the difference. The call came from folks at the Twisted Root Campground. Hettrick said she thought they were calling her to tell her she could take her travel trailer out of storage early and move in. No, it wasn’t that simple.
Lisa’s trailer had been parked in a group, right next to her dad’s trailer. Lightning bolted from the heavens, striking Lisa’s rig, burning it to cinders. Not only was her rig destroyed, so was her father’s, and one other unfortunate rig that was close by. The campground folks were kind enough to make the call—the rigs were parked off the campground on another property.
“They were actually the first ones there when it got hit by lightning,” Hettrick told a local media outlet. The fire department and Natural Resources got there quickly. They managed to save two of the RVs, but the trailer’s owner’s was instantly incinerated instantly. The first department was too late to save it.
Not waiting for the insurance check
Lisa says she’s happy that she and her father had insured their rigs, and they already have appointments set to talk about settlements. As to her camping plans—they’re still on, even if a tent will be the camping unit of choice.
Lisa has a couple of teenage boys, and they have energy to burn. Keeping them cooped up at home while waiting for an insurance check is out of the question.
The lady who said “My trailer was struck by lightning” is not about to let some little stroke of fate stop her summer from happening.
What would you do if you were in your RV in a lightning storm? Here are important survival tips.
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Hook up our second TT (whichever one of the two was left) and go camping. 😄😄
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 If I was aware of the storm, then I’d unplug from the power pedestal and retract the power cord. Ditto the water hose. Probably would not have the sewer hose connected, but would also retract it if it was connected. Thanks again and safe travels! 🙂
Stay inside and wait for the storm to pass.
Stay inside what? It was reduced to ashes!
What are the odds of being struck by the lightning?
July 2023, our Class C had a lightning strike on a 90 ft Pine 6 ft from it. The strike took out everything that was wired. It was not on shore power, or connected to water. Sitting on concrete slab.
After 4 months in the shop, slowly replacing all computers in the engine compartment, the shop basically gave up on ever repairing it to a safe and reliable vehicle.
Insurance company finally totalled it. It pays to have Comprehensive coverage
Buddy’s RV, Mobile AL. Excellent RV Repair shop.
This would be a great question for Mike Sokol. I think he has addressed it a while ago. As I recall: the question was about grounding the Rv or not? Anyone remember that? Lightning usually hits the highest object to ground. Person on a open golf course?
We’ve been thru some vicious T-Storms with a lot of cloud to ground lightning – so far lucky. Also, as Bill says below: “What are the odds of being hit….”. Pretty low for sure – don’t park on golf courses???? HA
Hi, D and J. Here is a link to a post Mike Sokol wrote on lightning and RVs. It has links to a couple more related articles at the bottom of that post. For more of Mike’s posts on RVtravel.com, click here. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Those Manitobans are a hearty bunch and hitting the trail with tents for camping will be just fine, especially for the rambunctious sons.
My parents were in Cloudcroft, NM and a storm came. Lightning went down through the rig and destroyed 2 of the 6 batteries. Here in TN, we had straight line winds that blew away the shelters protecting RVs. I have pictures of that event if you want them.