Dramatic rescue shows why you shouldn't drive in flood water
Severe storms swept through the U.S. Gulf States on Thursday morning, including a line of intense storms that generated tornadoes and flash flooding in parts of Louisiana.
From the flooded streets of the state capital, Baton Rouge, dramatic video emerged of fire crews making a daring rescue as a woman found herself trapped in a car, rapidly sinking in deep flash-flood waters (seen in the video above).
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"Turn around, don't drown" is a often-used phrase from the U.S. National Weather Service, urging people to refrain from driving into flooded streets, even if the water doesn't look very deep. Unfortunately, these kinds of water rescues are all too common as drivers find different reasons to attempt to navigate flooded streets anyway. And in the case of flash floods, sometimes it's less a case of not driving into the water, but the water catching up with you on a previously-dry street.
A suspected tornado caused damage in the Baton Rouge area at the same time the flooding rains moved through. At least one other tornado was also spotted closer to New Orleans.
15 centimetres of standing water, sometimes less, can be enough to cause damage to your engine. At about the 30 centimetre mark, a typical car can being to float -- that means no traction and no steering control, leaving you at the mercy of the current. At 60 centimeters, about two feet, of water, even larger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs are in danger of floating away.
As a rule of thumb, don't drive into water that's too deep to see the painted markings on the road.