Racing the Storm: Boat and RV Owners Head to the Coast as Vacationers Flee Hurricane Isaias

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. — As Hurricane Isaias closed in on the Gulf Coast, the traffic on Baldwin County’s highways ran in two directions. Vacationers and seasonal visitors packed up and headed inland, while boat and RV owners drove hours toward the coast to haul their property out of harm’s way before conditions turned dangerous.

At the Buc-ee’s travel center in Baldwin County on Thursday, Oct. 8, several travelers described cut-short vacations, crowded interstates and last-minute decisions about what to save and what to leave behind as the storm approached.

A Vermont camper’s second evacuation

For Andy Paige, October is supposed to be an escape. Every year she loads up her camper in Vermont and heads south for the month.

“My husband hunts the month of October, and I come south, and I’m usually here every year for the month of October,” Paige said.

She typically spends the month at a campground in Mexico Beach, Florida, the small Gulf community east of Panama City. This year, the trip went sideways within days of her arrival. Campground staff began warning visitors Monday about the approaching storm, she said, and steady rain had already dampened her stay.

“To be honest with you, it’s done nothing but rain the entire time I’ve been here. It’s been awful,” Paige said.

It is not the first time weather has upended her annual trip. “This is my second time to have to evacuate. Last year, I was caught in a tornado, the worst experience of my life,” she said.

Paige first planned to head east but changed course after seeing forecasts suggesting the storm could track in that direction. Instead, she decided to take her camper west to Mississippi and park it there until conditions improve.

Campground staff told her not to come back until she calls to confirm it is safe, citing the possibility of power outages, damaged roads and bridges that could become impassable.

There was one more complication: Paige holds tickets to the Alabama-Georgia football game this weekend. She said she is ready for a wet afternoon if the game goes on as planned.

“I bought some ponchos, and I bought some rain boots,” Paige said. “If the game is not going to be called, I will be there.”

Despite the disruption, she said she plans to stay in the South as long as she can. “I will find another campground and enjoy the south as long as I possibly can,” Paige said.

Driving down from Georgia to get the boat and RV

Shane Herrington was traveling the opposite way. He said he drove from Georgia to the Gulf Coast to collect a boat and an RV before the storm arrived.

“We came down from Georgia to grab what we could before the storm hit and head back,” Herrington said.

Forecasts, emergency declarations and worries about possible bridge closures persuaded him it was time to make the trip, he said. His family owns six lots in the area and rents others, and beyond retrieving the boat and RV, he wanted to check on the properties and make sure everything was secure before returning to Georgia rather than risk being stranded.

The drive down gave him a look at how many people were already leaving. “Coming down from Georgia on 85, it is nothing but gridlock going all the way back to Georgia,” Herrington said, referring to Interstate 85, the main route between Montgomery and Atlanta.

He said seasonal residents were also getting out. “Even the snowbirds are trying to get out of there,” he said.

Not everyone he talked to was leaving. Herrington said a neighboring couple planned to stay through the storm, and he encouraged them to stay alert and to consider other options if the storm grew more dangerous.

“I talked to her for a minute. It’s like, hey, you know, just be safe,” he said.

‘My insurance company said, go get your boat’

Joel Tallant made the trip on his insurer’s advice. He keeps his boat in Orange Beach, and he said his insurance company told him to retrieve it ahead of the storm.

“My insurance company said, ‘Hey, go get your boat.’ So we came,” Tallant said. “I arranged everything to come down here and get it, take it back home.”

Tallant’s wife works in the maritime industry and was aware that vessels and equipment were being moved or secured at the Port of Mobile ahead of the storm. That reinforced the family’s decision.

“She was like, ‘Hey, it’s time to go get the boat,'” he said.

The trip meant extra time and fuel costs, but Tallant said it was money well spent compared with the risk of losing the boat. “It’s better safe than sorry. So it’s a lot of money to sit there to get blown away,” he said.

He also worried that bridges could close if winds picked up and wanted to move before the heaviest evacuation traffic built. “We were just trying to get ahead of it, trying to get ahead of most of the traffic,” Tallant said.

Some owners choose to leave their boats in place, but he was not willing to take the chance. “For me, I want to go be safe,” he said.

Tallant plans to keep the boat away from the coast for a couple of weeks. He may be back sooner for work: he owns Diamond J Construction and said he could return to help after the storm. “Between personal and business, I will be here,” he said.

Why bridges and timing matter

Many of the travelers’ worries centered on bridges, and for good reason. Coastal Baldwin County depends on a handful of bridges to connect beach communities with the mainland, including the bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and the Perdido Pass Bridge on Alabama 182. Authorities commonly close high bridges to traffic once sustained winds reach unsafe levels, and storm surge or debris can block approaches, which can leave people on the wrong side of the water until crews inspect the structures.

Hauling a boat or a travel trailer adds to the risk. High-profile vehicles and trailers are especially vulnerable to strong crosswinds, which can push them out of their lane or cause them to sway. That is one reason emergency managers urge anyone towing a boat or RV to leave well before tropical storm-force winds arrive, rather than waiting until the last minute.

Protecting boats and RVs from a hurricane

For boat owners, the general advice from marine safety agencies and insurers is that the best protection is removing the boat from the water and moving it away from the coast if time allows, as Tallant did. Many marine insurance policies include hurricane provisions, and some require owners to have a storm plan or offer help with the cost of hauling a boat out. Owners should check their policies before a storm, not after.

For boats that must stay behind, commonly recommended steps include:

• Doubling dock lines and using chafe protection where lines cross hard edges.
• Removing canvas, sails, cushions, electronics and anything else that can blow away or catch wind.
• Making sure batteries are charged so bilge pumps can run, and sealing hatches and windows.
• Securing boats on trailers by deflating tires slightly, blocking wheels and tying the trailer down, and storing them away from trees and low-lying areas.
• Taking photos of the boat and keeping registration and insurance documents with you.

Owners should never stay aboard a vessel during a hurricane.

RV owners face similar choices. Recreational vehicles and campers are not built to withstand hurricane-force winds, and emergency managers advise people staying in them to leave for sturdier shelter well before a storm. If an RV cannot be moved inland, owners are generally advised to park it away from trees and power lines and out of flood-prone areas, retract slide-outs and awnings, and disconnect water, sewer and electrical hookups.

Boat and RV owners who leave their property behind should also document it before the storm with photos or video, remove valuables and important papers, and keep their insurer’s claims number handy.

What travelers and residents should do

For Paige, the storm meant putting a long-planned vacation on hold. For Herrington, it meant a long drive to secure his family’s property. For Tallant, it meant paying extra to protect his boat. All three were moving before the weather turned dangerous, and some hope to return within days while others are waiting to see what the storm leaves behind.

Anyone traveling during a hurricane threat should keep a full tank of fuel, carry water, snacks and phone chargers, and check traffic and road conditions before leaving. The Alabama Department of Transportation posts traffic information through its ALGO Traffic service, and the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service office in Mobile provide the latest forecasts.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to follow announcements from the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency and local governments regarding evacuation recommendations, bridge restrictions and road conditions. For travelers already on the highway, the goal is simple: get families and belongings to safety before the worst of the storm arrives.