Things to know about Flood Safety and your Car!

If it starts flooding in your area there are a few tips to heed, as flood waters are extremely dangerous if you try to drive your car through them. Keep the following facts in mind to stay alive and dry:

• Flash floods can come very rapidly and unexpectedly and can occur within a few minutes or hours of excessive rainfall, or when a dam or levee breaks. Always be careful during storm seasons, or any time that flooding is common in your area.
• You may not get a warning that a flash flood is approaching
• Do not drive unless absolutely necessary
• Do not drive through flooded areas. If you see a flooded-out road ahead, turn around, do not be a hero and think you can cross it, it is not worth. Find another route to your destination.
• If there is no other route, get to higher ground and wait for the waters to subside.
• Even if the water appears shallow enough to cross, don’t try it. Water hides dips in the road. Worse yet, there may be no road at all under the water. Flooding can erode the road surface and a significant amount of ground beneath.
• If your car stalls, abandon it immediately and climb to higher ground
• 12cm of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing loss of control or possible stalling
• Less than half a metre of flood water is enough to sweep a car off the road
• Do not drive into water of unknown depth and current
• Driving through flood water is the number one cause of flood-related deaths

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