Caravan tragedy in R.O.I.

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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A woman reported to be a Swiss tourist has died after the touring caravan that she was sleeping in was blown off cliffs in the County Galway, Republic of Ireland.
It's all too easy to become so cocooned inside a comfortable warm caravan when the weather outside is bad that we don't recognise the dangers, so let's be careful out there.
Condolences to the friends and family of the victim. :(
 
May 24, 2014
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Yes heard about this this morning. There have been weather reports coming in for days about storms Helene and Ali, we really should pay more heed to them.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Wise move us Woosies travelled yesterday bar Sir Gabs who was celebrating his ?? Wedding anniversary with a double stack special in Woodys.
Windy here in Wiltshire. It’s the sudden gusts that get you :woohoo:
 
May 7, 2012
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Pensioner. We are just outside Glasgow and it has been terrible today but winds have died down and hopefully things will be OK tomorrow. best I can do is say make your final decision tomorrow morning.
I did see the report on the BBC website. Terrible accident and it shows the care needed when the weather is bad.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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I haven't heard any more details of the incident, but regardless of what nationality the lady was its a sad event.

I recollect a family holiday at St. Davids' in Wales many years ago. My brother and I were in a tent and parents and girls in a 1960's Sprite Musketeer. The wind just ruined the tent and we all ended up in the caravan feeling it rock (thankfully; not "and rolling") all night- rather frightening.
 
Sep 4, 2017
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Very sad event in Ireland, my condolences to the family!
Reading this made me think about my worst "windy" caravaning experience. I used to travel from South Africa to South West Africa (Namibia) to go sea fishing. Some of the best sea fishing on Southern African coast. We decided to stop for a few days on a return journey at a beautiful spot in a small coastal town of Lüderitz where you actually camp on small rock island called "Shark Island" Every morning that time of year the sea is peaceful and the scenery nothing short of picturesque. What we did not know was that in the evenings and night the winds screamed through, the famous South Westerly's that area gets. Gale force winds! I am not joking when I say our caravan moved something like a foot or more as it rocked and rolled, it was very scary. Not only that but, researching the local area's history, it turns out that Shark Island was the very first place Hitlers henchmen experimented with extermination techniques. If interested read a bit of history here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Island_Concentration_Camp.

Africa was and still is a wild very interesting place, far from the cosy world we frequent in Europe when caravanning. Our caravan was right behind the big rock in the picture almost where the 4x4 stands
Shark_Island.JPG
which probably stopped us from being blown off the island!
 
Apr 6, 2017
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I was touring Ireland when the storm hit. Reports on RTE indicated the caravan was sited very near to the beach. There is some ‘wild’ camping in Ireland and from the news reports the only unfortunate lady’s caravan could be seen.
The weather was some of the worst I’ve seen.The site we were on was Lough Key forest park and several trees had come down. The main site exit road was blocked by 2 trees. No staff had arrived on site. We found away out via a small service road. We didn’t feel safe in staying on site any longer.
Our homeward ferry Was booked for that day. I towed from Carrick on Shannon to Dublin in the high winds and rain. There were fallen trees on many roads including the N4. The caravan got blow around a good bit but with the help of ATC and keeping the speed down we made without any drama.
The ferry was 5 hours late docking due to the weather ( waiting for tugs to help the ferry dock) We were pleased to make it onto the ferry home. The crossing was good even in a force 7-9!
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Grey13 said:
Very sad event in Ireland, my condolences to the family!
Reading this made me think about my worst "windy" caravaning experience. I used to travel from South Africa to South West Africa (Namibia) to go sea fishing. Some of the best sea fishing on Southern African coast. We decided to stop for a few days on a return journey at a beautiful spot in a small coastal town of Lüderitz where you actually camp on small rock island called "Shark Island" Every morning that time of year the sea is peaceful and the scenery nothing short of picturesque. What we did not know was that in the evenings and night the winds screamed through, the famous South Westerly's that area gets. Gale force winds! I am not joking when I say our caravan moved something like a foot or more as it rocked and rolled, it was very scary. Not only that but, researching the local area's history, it turns out that Shark Island was the very first place Hitlers henchmen experimented with extermination techniques. If interested read a bit of history here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Island_Concentration_Camp.

Africa was and still is a wild very interesting place, far from the cosy world we frequent in Europe when caravanning. Our caravan was right behind the big rock in the picture almost where the 4x4 stands
Shark_Island.JPG
which probably stopped us from being blown off the island!
The south easter in Cape Town was no better and on more than one occasion at the campsite near Parow caravans were damaged.
 

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