You know how some people say, "Things will be clearer in the light of day"? Those people would be optimists. I'm usually a glass-half-full kinda guy, but Mother Nature smashed the living shit out of my glass.
We did drive the car into Rapid City, to get tarps and roof repair material, both of those will be temporary fixes. I have an appointment at the Winnebago factory to get the roof replaced, in December. I remember Iowa in December. It's why we moved away.
I spent a couple hours on the roof first thing this morning, while Joan fashioned some plastic over the sunroof in the Honda that has gone missing. Might be with my prostate? On the way into town, trying to look through the shattered windshield, I asked, "Do you feel like you're in a Spiderman movie?" See, cause the shattered glass looks like a spider web on acid. Too soon for humor?
The weather weasels were calling for a significant chance of rain and severe weather today, We bought some patching material and a covering for over the top of that; 4 tarps of varying sizes. We saw other Hart Ranch people at Menard's in the roof repair and RV supply areas... they had that same stunned look that we have. Every car, truck, motorhome, 5th wheel, and travel trailer here has been damaged. The grounds look awful, with tree branches and leaves down everywhere. People are up on roofs and doing what repairs they can. Surprisingly, it also seems that every sewer hose has been beaten to a pulp. I have been using RINOflex hose for years - this is the first time I've seen one ripped apart. I do carry a 10' extension sewer hose, and by using a different end piece on it, it will get us by. Seems that all the places that sell RV supplies in Rapid City are out of sewer hose. This short one will work for now, and Amazon will have one on its way. Truly, I didn't think about the sewer hose.
Both side mirrors on the Honda were damaged... sail tape to the rescue. It also works on our awnings, where they have had holes punched. We did have the slide outs pulled in (when we looked at radar), but the little bit of awning at the inner and outer edges have holes/tears. Tail lights on the Honda have holes; sail tape worked on that, too.
Back to the roof of the motorhome: I estimated 25 to 40 holes punched in the fiberglass... more like 60. My biggest concern right now is the two large skylites that have been obliterated... I have taped plastic over those, but that obviously isn't going to hold going down the road. Joan thinks we can get some clear plastic sheets and attach them; we'll see.
For now, we are "out of the weather" and can try to get back to normal again.
I spent two hours with a claims person today from Progressive. After going through the "phone cha-cha" of getting bounced around. The lady who ultimately took my information was professional and friendly... seems they put their least experienced and most non-conversational people as the "first line" on the phones. Maybe, it is to try to drive you away? Nah, they wouldn't do that, would they?
Because of "short staffing," an independent claims adjuster will be contacting us to check out the damage in person... some time in the next week. No doubt, there are going to be a LOT of claims for RVs based around this storm.
With the stuff we bought to patch the roof, on the next nice (not hot) day, I'll go back up there again and start that process... just trying to keep the water out until we can get the roof replaced.
We've done what we can for now. Joan is doing laundry, since every towel and blanket we have was called into service to try to keep water out. I think Rufus is going to need a short walk. I need a nap.
A brief look...
Some of the holes in the roof (below); everywhere you see those gray rectangles above is a hole.
Whew!
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After another run into town for repair supplies, we tarped the car (the sunroof is gone, and the initial cover we did to it didn't hold).
More substantial repairs planned for tomorrow.
4 comments:
Thanks for the pics and update Jim. I saw a post where a guy put a Rhino/Line X roof on his RV. I can tell you that my 2000 Nissan Frontier's bed was done in Line X and it is in perfect shape to this day. I dropped huge rocks into the bed with a tractor loader, a dent or two but not one coating failure. It comes in smoother textures and lighter colors now. Not sure it would meet your wife's taste in car roofs but it does not matter on top of an RV. The Army tried the stuff on APC's and it really gave the body a lot of strength from IED's! Long time till December, maybe a fiberglass repair is in order on the skylights. How did the AC unit fair? Hope this is the first and last bad hail storm of your season at the park. See ya.
Bob Jarrard
I have found that Gorilla Tape works better than any other duct tape. It will not come loose driving down the road. Ya, we lost the same sewer hose as you on one of our hail storms. I fixed that by installing a 3" PVC pipe, which works for us because we are here for 5 months and have a garage to store it when we leave. You should consider putting an aluminum gutter over the top of your sewer hose. In our hail storm with only large marble size hail, the sewer hose was shredded, not just holes but actually shredded. Tape the gutter over the hose so it won't blow away.
It is part of the adventure. The bad part.
Terrible, terrible damage to your motorhome and Honda. So glad the 3 of you are OK! You will get thru this and it will be another great story!
We are in central Missouri if you need anything when passing thru this area.
Hi Bob, Jeff, and Unknown. I will be going back on the roof today to make more substantial repairs, still what I would consider "temporary." We stocked up on some plexi that I will cut to fit openings, and tape it down with Gorilla Tape. I will replace the duct tape over the holes (so many holes) with FlexSeal tape and spray the edges. Bob, we have used Rino-Liner in the bed of the pickup we used to have (Big Red) and I did the floor and ramp of our cargo trailer with a similar paint-on - held up great. Won't work on the roof because of all the holes, literally through the fiberglass and the wood underneath that. Replacing the entire roof and structure is what will be necessary.
We moved to another site yesterday, and the grass has divots where the hail tore away grass. Crazy. We've seen tow trucks coming into the resort to haul away vehicles that are totaled. Everyone seems to be doing what needs to get done, as best they can; the resort will be getting back to normal. Only two days into all this, and I am feeling my age. This old body isn't used to working while on my hands and knees. But, my inner-kid is ready to get get 'er done. I could slap that kid. ;-)
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