As they say, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade. So what happens when life hands you 10 inches of rain in less than 12 hours? Well, if you’re part of the 59th Wally Byam Caravan Club International Rally you make the most of it by throwing in to help the people and the area recover.
The average rainfall for the entire month of June for West Virginia averages less than four and a half inches. On June 23rd of this year they received 8 to 10 inches in less than 12 hours. The resulting floods were disastrous and claimed the lives of 23 individuals.
During the storms and into the days after, 668 rigs rolled into Lewisburg, West Virginia — an area of the state hit hard by the flooding — for the planned annual rally. After learning how extensive the damage was, rally members immediately pitched in, connecting with the Neighbors Loving Neighbors organization to help with town clean-up and distribute much-needed supplies to victims.
Partly in thanks to a great rally turnout — the largest number of trailers at a rally since 2010 — rally attendees were also able to raise over $44,500 to donate to various charities in the area, with a majority of that going to help with flood relief. And the rally itself continued on, including the first International Board of Trustees meeting held by lantern light.
People go on caravans for adventure. In this case, the adventure was definitely not something that most of these caravaners had ever encountered before, but then that’s why you get behind the wheel, isn’t it? And after all, when was the last time you went on an adventure where visitors played host to locals?
