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IPFS News Link • Prepping

What to Do (and NOT Do) If You're Driving During a Flash Flood

• https://www.theorganicprepper.com

Many people still have to venture out on the roads, even if there's a flash flood watch. We have obligations like school and work that keep us driving through sub-optimal weather even when it would be safer to stay home.

What if, despite watching the weather, you and your family become trapped? With flash floodwaters rising around your car and filling the roads, you have to act quickly. What's the best way to handle the urgency of the situation?

I have faced this. I'll share what to do in this situation.

Turn around. Don't drown

According to the National Weather Service, flash flooding can happen nationwide. It is also the number one weather-related killer in the United States.  On average, 86 people per year die because they attempted to drive through floodwaters, and unfortunately, that number is increasing.

It takes as little as six inches of water for a vehicle to get swept away.

According to FEMA:

– Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing loss of control and potential stalling.
– A foot of water will float many vehicles.
– Two feet of rushing water will carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and pickups.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, water 1 foot deep typically exerts 500 pounds of lateral force on a vehicle.

Once your vehicle is floating, the floodwater becomes your steering wheel. If that water is moving, your vehicle could be swept away, tipped on its side or flipped.

Rising water can enter your vehicle in a manner of minutes, even seconds.

The best advice we can give is to never drive through flood waters of unknown depth. As the National Weather Service has campaigned for years: "Turn around, don't drown!" (source)

Some people risk destroying their vehicles and potentially losing their lives by driving through floodwaters. It's a scary experience to come across rising water in the road during a rainstorm, not knowing if you'll stall out. It's not worth the risk.

My own experience with driving through a flash flood

Thankfully, I've never stalled out even though I have driven through flooded roads caused by flash floods. Flooding is so common in my area, it's constantly a talking point in our local elections. The water in my area accumulates in the low lying portions of the streets as it rains.