It took me a second to find it, but this video from Australia in 2011 illustrates perfectly just how powerful very shallow flood waters can be. Notice the dude around 1:10 deflating his tires, which buys him just enough time to get his truck out. It was a terrible, stupid risk, but it worked.
When I was in the service and training for my haz-mat driver certification, I had to ford a running stream in an actual hummer. Even though it was very rocky and fairly shallow, I was still freaked out. Even a commercial H1 shouldn’t attempt it. They’re dumb toys for wannabe Blackrock mercenaries.
In Scottsdale, they are/ were more or less poser-mobiles. There are a few Gentlemen* who have mil-surp ones running around the valley, though; however, they are probably not as well trained in all likelihood.
(* In every bad sense of that word; QAnon, survivalists, and ammosexuals.)
This is correct advice. Source: many years living in Wilmington, NC near the aptly named Cape Fear River. At the city limits I-40 ends, becoming one of the main roads through town. The first major intersection after this happens acts as Wilmington’s very own 11’8" bridge whenever there’s more than a couple inches of rain. Maybe not quite as dramatic, but I suspect the auto parts stores in town sell slightly more alternators than comparable stores elsewhere.
I think we can all agree that it’s bleedin’ obvious a dude was driving.
There are several viaducts near me that have foot markers on the abutments. Normally, the pumping stations take care of the water, but once in a while they get overwhelmed or break down.
For added fun, one of them has 11’9" clearance. I’ve seen a box truck in a nearby parking area, with a thoroughly customized roof and a police officer writing the driver a ticket.
Yes. It’s a fair cop. I couldn’t find the video I remembered where there is one driving almost that deep and getting away with it. I remember the driver could only just see out of the top of their windscreen, and I hadn’t looked carefully enough at this one.
Yikes, the Aussie footage is astonishing; especially the piled up cars at the end.
There is a small river (more of a stream) that runs behind where I live. Just down the road is a ford with a footbridge. The ford is usually about 3" deep; but, a few times each year, it will flood up to a foot or two. There always seems to be someone who will choose to ignore the “flood” signs, and risk driving through it. They lose traction and get wedged under the footbridge. I remember, when the local Naiad was feeling especially mischievous, the water had pushed out a rear windscreen, and filled the car, up to its windowsills with about a ton of shingle.
My sailing teacher reminded us that energy is 1/2 mass times velocity squared. And that water is very heavy, and wind speeds often rise quickly.
Translation: both water and wind are much more dangerous that you might expect.
(On a sailboat, the force from wind also arrives out on the end of a lever arm, the mast, but that’s at least one bit of physics this poor guy didn’t experience.)
