What do you do?

[grand]

When you are camping in a tent near a body of water, like a river or a lake and there is a sudden storm with strong winds and rain, no other shelter nearby, what do you do?

[dinosaur]

I've been in plenty of storms. I got caught once in a tornado. I secured my gear to a tree and then climbed down alongside a creek bank and pulled a tarp over me.

You can't fight Mother Nature. So, you ride it out.

[CozInCowtown]

I guess we get wet?

[wvbreamfisherman]

Even minimal shelter is better than none. Find a couple rocks you can squeeze between, find the hollow left by the rootball of a toppled tree, squeeze under a fallen tree truck.

Hunker down and ride it out. Always carry a space emergency blanket. It will keep you dry and help keep you warm.

[calanta]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

You can't fight Mother Nature. So, you ride it out.

That is the truth if I ever read it. You really do not have much of a choice, bunker down and ride it out. Or you can leave all of your stuff and chance getting back to a vehicle to maybe only get out of the storm in time before it gets you.

[Judy Ann]

I stayed in my nice dry tent listening to thunder reverberating off the canyon walls and rain pounding on the tent, grabbed the pup and a throw and enjoyed a good nights sleep. The first time in a coastal tropical storm I did a good bit of praying that if I was going to die, then may my little spoiled rotten dog go too. I GREW UP AROUND FLASH FLOODS AND CHOSE MY SITES ACCORDINGLY!

Lightening still bothers me so I just go to sleep when it starts...after I pull the pup under the covers and cover her eyes. It's worked for us both so far.

[ejdixon]

Make sure that I pitch my tent a relatively good distance away from any body of water before anything else. If it starts getting a bit rough, we pack our stuff up and head for the nearest shelter. Sounds a bit chicken on my part, but I have to admit, but since most of the time, I go camping with my girlfriend and she's not really that used to camping yet, I'd rather not take the risk.

[IndianaHiker]

Been under my tarp on many a storm. I use a tarp instead of a tent. I just stay under the tarp to stay dry and ride the storm out. If have a decent tent and it is pitched correctly it should offer pretty good shelter.

[ponderosa]

I've never considered leaving the shelter of my tent during a storm, and yes, I've ridden out a few big ones. Of course, I've been fortunate to always have well designed, well built tents that can stand up to some ugly weather. The first thing is to carefully select your tent site to begin with, in a place that won't pool water or flood. Orient your tent so that the lowest, narrowest side will be facing into the wind. Use all guylines and stakes. I actually enjoy being warm and dry, knowing that just the other side of the nylon wall, a storm is raging. It's kind of a cool experience.

[Alan Steve]

Better to check the belongings before. If sudden storms came what can we do and where to stay?