Healthbolt

How to: Flood Survival in a Car

by Wade Meredith on May 7th, 2007

Photo: J. Gerencher
Kansas City is enduring it’s 6th day of scattered thunderstorms with torrential rain. I’m so tired of the water, and it’s humid and gross even when you have a roof over your head. Here’s a few quick tips on how to come up roses when the wet stuff is coming down, and you’re behind the wheel.

Do not go sight seeing during a flood. It’s a good way to waste valuable resources that are needed to rescue people who are in trouble through no fault of their own, and you could get killed. I know it sounds like common sense, but it almost never fails that when there’s a flood, there are Looky-Loos who need rescuing.

One thing that’s pretty nice about torrential downpours is they can only last so long. Eventually the air will run out of water. If your wipers are having trouble keeping up, pull over and give it a few minutes. Just make sure you stop on high ground and your hazards are working properly. Pull out of the flow of traffic completely. Chances are visibility will be poor for other drivers as well, and you don’t want to make a dangerous situation worse by causing an accident.

Most cars can float away in about two feet of water. (For every foot of water your car is in, it displaces 1500 lbs. Which means it essentially weighs 1500 lbs. per foot.) If you are in a car and water starts rising rapidly around you, or you start to float, abandon the vehicle immediately and seek high ground.

11,000 people a year end up in a car that ends up in the water. This is wear you need to forget about the movies, where it takes 15 seconds for a car to become submerged. Most cars will take about two minutes to actually sink, so you have a moment or two to get your wits about you.

1. Go for the windows first. Electric windows should remain viable for at least a minute, and if you have a hand crank window, you’re golden. Just roll it down and jump out. If you can’t get the window down, don’t panic! You’ve got options.
2. The door will be useless as the car sinks, because water pressure will hold it closed. This is where it gets kind of scary hairy really wet. You need to wait it out in the car until it fills up with water enough for you to open the door. Once enough water is in the car the pressure on the outside of the door holding it closed will ease enough for you to open it and swim away from the vehicle.
3. Make sure you do swim AWAY from the car. Engines are full of all kind of fluids that you don’t want in your eyes, mouth or nose.

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POSTED IN: Extreme, How To, Prevention