Top States For Spring Weather Damage Risks To Your RV
Springtime is here, and among all the spring cleaning chores and enjoying warmer temperatures, it is also time to protect your RV. Hail, flooding and tornadoes are among the threats that your Recreational Vehicles face from spring storms.
According to the Farmers Insurance, RV and car claims related to the dangers of hail, rising water and flooding, glass damage, and tornadoes all present major hazards for RV’ers as spring’s warmer weather arrives.
The insurance company analyzed customer claims data from 2013 through 2015 to identify those states that face an increased risk of major spring hazards. If you drive or camp regularly in one of these states, you should contact your insurance agent or broker to be sure that you have the right coverage for your RV.
Since an RV is commonly used to travel to other states, it is worth noting the top states
for RV insurance claims from hail, rising water and floods, and tornadoes:
The biggest month for hail-related RV damage claims is May.
Hail is a frequent by-product of spring and summer thunderstorms. Hail stones are made up of layered ice that form when updrafts in thunderstorms carry droplets of rain upward and into very cold upper layers of the atmosphere. The droplets then freeze into typically irregularly shaped balls of ice and are classified as hail if they have a diameter of at least 0.20 inches. When these frozen hailstones become too heavy to stay airborne, gravity pulls them back down, falling in paths known as hail swaths that can range up to 100 miles long.
According to Farmers’ claims data, 58% of all annual hail claims related to damage to Recreational Vehicles are reported between March and May. May tends to be the height of hail damage season, with 29% of hail claims occurring in this month.
If you live or camp in one of the following five states, your RV is especially vulnerable:
Kansas: 77%
Nebraska: 77%
Oklahoma: 76%
Montana: 73%
Texas: 54%
Flooding Risks
Half of all flooding-related Auto claims take place in the spring.
Winter snow melts and copious spring showers can sometimes also bring with it spring flash flooding
RV owners should be cautious about back roads and side roads that are known to flood easily or suddenly because of poor drainage, uneven road grading and other factors. Unexpected storms combined with overflowing levees or dams can quickly flood roads and cause hazardous driving conditions.
Flash floods can often bring rolling water ranging from 10 to 15 feet high. Despite its weight RV’s can begin floating in as little as 2-3 feet of water. In the past five years, all 50 states have experienced some level of flooding, including flash flooding, according to the National Flood Insurance Program.
More than half of all rising water and flooding claims occur in the spring between March and May. 2015 was an especially high claims year as rising water and flooding claims more than quadrupled from the same three-month window in 2014.
Pot Holes damage RV’s too.
Rising water and flooding hazards also are notorious for creating or or advancing the size of potholes. The Farmers report says that pothole damage accounts for nearly 500,000 vehicle insurance claims every year. RV’s are counted among the 500,000. Sudden jarring hits to an RV carried through the suspension can cause physical damage to an RV’s laminated wall panels and we have even seen them shift the RV structure and pop out windshields.
According to Farmers’ claims data, the following five states have the most rising water and flooding Auto insurance claims:
Texas.
Illinois.
Alabama.
Oklahoma.
Florida.
Tornado Damage
Sixty-three percent of RV damage claims for tornado damage are filed between March and May.
We don’t need to tell Texans what a tornado is or how it forms. Nor do we need to explain the devastating effects of tornado damage on anything, including RV’s. But a cautious reminder to all that 63% of all automotive tornado damage is filed in March, April and May. The United States has more tornadoes than any other place in the world.
The Farmers report notes that, on average, 403 tornadoes occurred annually between March and May from 2013 to 2015. Of 2015’s tornados, 59% occurred during this three-month window. Additionally, seven of the top 10 days for greatest tornado activity in 2015 occurred in the month of May.
As a result, Farmers found, nearly two-thirds (63%) of tornado-related Auto claims are filed between March and May.
Here are the top five states for tornado-related Auto claims:
Oklahoma.
Alabama.
Arkansas.
Missouri.
Florida.
So remember that with spring flowers, showers and travel, also brings springtime damage dangers to your RV. Stay protected!