Flooded Roads

In the late 1970's several inches of rain fell in a short time in the Twin Cities. The heavy rain flooded a portion of US52 between West Saint Paul and South Saint Paul. US52 is a controlled access freeway at this location. A trooper had blocked off the freeway using his patrol car and highway flares and was directing traffic down the exit ramp and onto city streets. A VW bug approached the scene and ignoring the troopers signals to stop, drove around the patrol car, through the flares, hit the gas and drove into the flooded roadway at high speed. The depth of the water was over 15 feet. The vehicle hit the water, came to a stop, floated for a time, then flipped over and sank to the bottom. The driver, a young man in his early 20's, was able to swim to safety. The trooper ran over to the young man to help. The driver looked up at the trooper and said, "Why didn't you stop me?"

This years Spring flooding on the East Coast as well as in the Fargo-Morehead Area of the Midwest caused many bridges to close, detours and flooded roadways. Some basic advice for all drivers, don't drive around barricades at any time and especially in areas of flooding. You have no idea how deep the water is, nor to you have any knowledge of the current that may be flowing across the roadway. Water that looks shallow may be deeper than you think or the current may be extreme.

If you find yourself caught in a flooded roadway, you are going to have to decide to either leave your car and go to safety, or stay in the car and wait to be rescued. Generally, you should leave your car and go to higher ground. If you wait in the car there is the potential that your car may be washed down stream with you in it, or that it may be submerged as the water rises.

However, there may be a time when you are caught in a torrential current, and it is impossible to leave the car, since you would not make it to higher ground. On December 23, 2008, there was a water main break in the suburbs of Washington D.C. A wall of water, quickly flooded a major commuter route and a number of driver's were trapped in the raging water. Fortunately, they and were rescued by a Maryland State Police helicopter. If they wouldn't have waited in their vehicles to be rescued, they more than likely would have drowned trying to get to safety.

So what should you do if caught in a flood? If you have a cell phone, call for help. Public safety officials should be able to offer you some rational advice as to what actions you should take. If you don't have a phone or can't get through to Public Safety, you will have to decide on a course of action.

You are going to have to evaluate the situation as rationally and as calmly as possible and decide on an action. Sometimes there are no easy answers or solutions, and you are going to have to make a decision based on your own judgement. The most important thing to remember is to keep your head.