Day 233 / 2014 - Awning v Wind ... Wind 1 Awning 0

Our awning tried to stand up to to a nasty mini tornado yesterday unfortunately our awning lost and got knock flat on its back across the roof of the van.

We were not 200 metres away at Roma's Big Rig tourist attraction when it hit. There was no indication of any wind where we were after all it had been a beautiful day we didn't even know it had happened untill one of our neigbours from the caravan park found and told us the bad news. We at first thought they were having a lend but when they didn't smile we realised they were serious. We walked back towards where we parked and on approach could soon see the damage. Nothing had moved under the awning our chairs were still in the same place the clothes line was still upright with all the clothes still pegged to it even the kettle was still on the fold out picnic table.

The awning was laying across the roof with one end near the right hand side front of the van crossing over to the left hand side at the rear laying on top of the roof airconditioner. There was some damage on the right hand side rear wall below the toilet window where either the leg or peg had whiped over hitting the wall. There was similar damage at the front. The awning had crushed the TV antenna down onto the roof luckly missing the Heki hatch over the bed and the radio antena which is next to the TV antenna although covered by the awning appeared to be undamaged.

At the rear the awning covered the hatch above the shower we at first  though had broken but when inspected was still intact. The awning had been tied down to the ground with rope and pegs but these were unable to hold it down there were big clumps of dirt on the slab from the peg being ripped out of the ground. We couldn't see any holes in the roof and the silastic around the hatches, airconditioner and antenna seemed to be undamage hopefully the van will remain watertight as thunderstorms and heavy rain are approaching Roma.

A number of people had witnessed what happened. One feller described the tornado type wind coming from the back of the park where it passed through a stand of trees looking as though the tops were going to fly apart. Travelling down the laneway flinging the lids off bins it then traversed parallel with the row of vans where ours was parked. The small Jayco Swan van parked next to us nearly toppled over as he could see stabiliser legs come clearly off the ground with it rocking back and forth. Next it hit our awning flinging it up into the air and over the roof of our van. The van parked beside us awning started to lift but came back down in its originial position the wind then disappeared without touching any other the vans further along.

The people in the van next to us whose awning started to lift didn't even have a chance to react before it was all over they seem to believe as their awning started to lift ours coming over the top of our van smacked theirs back down again possibly saving it from going over the top of their van. The front peg from our awning was also found in their A frame tray.

Once we had got over our initial shock Anne got out the papers and onto the insurance company straight away and I started taking pictures in case evidence was needed. Our insurance company RACWA registered the claim then organised for an assessor on the east coast to call us hopefully on Monday or Tuesday. We checked with the insurance company if we could at least take the awning off the van to stop any further damage which they approved. Other people staying in the caravan park came to our rescue and helped us untangled the mess then rolling the awning up and placing it under our van. I checked over the roof to the best of my ability surveyed the damage and make sure it was still watertight. We do have a large tarp onboard incase it leaks but hopefully we wont need it. The caravan park management were also fantastic by suppling ladders and letting us know we can stay as long as we needed to get repairs organised. They said they could re-organise any bookings that involved the site we were on saving from us having to move around.

We're not really sure what happens next untill the insurance company calls on Monday or Tuesday but we belive we will have to stay put untill repairs can be organised. Our prefered scenario would be to continue on our planned path south after removing the antenna and shipping the awning back to the repairer. We have some warranty work planned at christmas time with the Retreat manufacturer in Melbourne so it would be advantagious for us to wait untill then where it could all be repaired at the same time while we are home for Christmas. The insurance company may have other ideas and want us to head to the nearest repairer in Toowoomba or Brisbane.

Just like to mention we appreciated all the assistance and support we received from our fellow caravaners as well as the management team at the Big Rig tourist park in Roma. They all helped make what was a difficuilt predicament so much easier.

Will Keep you Posted.