We have the older style manual box awning system, not the newer electric type.
Last weekend while we were wrapping up our stay in Dune Lake, MI, a storm came in like a hurricane. We had a lot of things setup under the awning and raced to get it all put away, but not before the winds got extreme. I retracted the side poles so the awning was low at a 45 degree angle to block the rain. My son ended up holding it down as we were not sure the poles would be enough with the wind. Evenually we got everything inside and I quickly cranked up the awning in the pouring rain and wild wind.
Today/Saturday, 6 days later, I thought I would open the awning and dry it out. To my surprise, there were small sticks and leaf clumps rolled up with the awning. They nearly damaged the canopy. They dimpled the material in numerous places, but today's sun helped level out the material. I sprayed bleach on the stains that came from the debris, but only some stains were removed.
Lesson learned: Be sure all debris is off the awning prior to rolling up. Even if done while in the worst of conditions.
Another notation. Because of the conditions while rolling up the awning last week, the awning didn't roll up evenly. The leading edge didn't close all the way, sticking out maybe 1.5" out from the box. To correct the misalignment, we unrolled the entire awning, then carefully rolled it up evenly, and the awning once again closed complete & even with a tight seal to the box.
