A Calamity at the FMCA Charlotte Rally

Not only are we selling LED Lamps for RVs at www.prudentrver.com, but we have been working as vendors at RV shows and rallies around the country. I will tell you more about that in a later post.

I want to tell you about today's news, because there is a lesson about being wary as an RVer.

Alice and I are vendors for LightBlasters LEDs and had a booth in Gillette, WY for an FMCA rally. We were preparing to travel to the east coast to set up our booth at the FMCA National Rally in Charlotte, NC, when we received the news that our grandson in Tacoma, WA had been hit by a speeding pickup and critically injured. We needed to head back to help.

We immediately started a search for someone to take over our booth in NC, and to cover the Fall Escapade in Van Wert, OH for us as well.

Jim and Linda Harriss of Edwardsville, IL answered our call and we traveled to near St. Louis to hand over the booth parts and inventory and to train them. They agreed to do both FMCA and Fall Escapade. Then we headed back to Tacoma.

Last week the Harrisses traveled to Charlotte to do the FMCA show. I had arranged for onsite parking as a vendor, so they had a place to park when they got there. They were put in the vendor area next to a creek at the Charlotte speedway.

They told me the first day went well, and that evening they headed out for supper with Kelly from LightBlasters.

It started to rain, and rain hard. When they returned, they were horrified to find their fifth-wheel trailer and truck under water from a flash flood of the creek. They had been placed in the flood plain.

The latest word is that both vehicles are being totaled by the insurance company. The Harrisses are picking up the pieces and returning to Illinois. They will not be able to cover the Fall Escapade.

Why am I telling you this? First for the news about our representation at the shows (or lack of it at Fall Escapade). Second as an example of things to watch out for when traveling in an RV.

Flash floods happen, and they happen quickly. Water destroys RVs and their contents. Jim lost his laptop computer among other things. Their records and other papers in the trailer and truck were water-soaked. Luckily, the water did not get into the upper level, else they would have lost all their clothes and bedding.

So far, no one at FMCA seems interested in taking any responsibility for what happened. Nor does Charlotte speedway take responsibility, even though the same thing happened in 2003 during a Nascar event. The Harrisses and others caught in the flood will be "talking" with them.

Moral of the story: it is up to you personally to be wary. Watch for risks, especially the unobvious ones, and if someone puts you or your rig at risk, do something about it. You can refuse to accept the risk.

And finally, don't park in a flood plain, in North Carolina or in Arizona or anywhere else you may travel.