> 
> On Sep 3, 2024, at 1:00 PM, ander kierig <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to drive through a flooded roadway. Ever. Take a change of clothes to your office if this is an ongoing issue.
> 
> I don't have a good answer for your mapping question. But don't drive through floodwaters. It puts you at risk. It puts the people who'd have to come rescue you at risk. If you can't tell if a road is flooded it's probably not a good idea to be driving. Waze/Google Maps/etc. are not going to be as up to date as someone exercising good judgement.
> 
> If there's standing water on the roadway, don't drive through it!


Agreed.  Even if you know that It’s not deep, it could be hiding a pothole or sinkhole that could take you out of action.  (We had someone stupid in our area who decided to drive around a barricade and drove into a flooded sinkhole a year or two back)

You could splash water onto your brakes, or even suck water up into the engine if the air intake is down low (I know someone with a Mustang who had to replace an engine because of driving through a large puddle and splashed water)

Deeper water starts your car floating… it doesn’t even have to fully float to lose enough friction that your wheels can’t steer, stop, or propel you… and even less if there is a side current for it to send you downstream.

…

As for Waze and similar apps… you need them all based, because things change over time, and you need it updating as you drive.  But you also need other people driving the route before you to report where the problems are, and if i’s just happened, or everyone is staying home out of the storm, or people in your area just don’t use that app, then it’s not nearly as useful.

It’s also a pain in Waze to report a closed road.  It’s something that you have to pull over and do, because you have to tap which roads are closed and such.  It’s not the 3-4 taps to report a car stopped on the shoulder.

(And if you decide to drive in a snowstorm and report all of the stopped cars that you see as you’re crawling along the DC beltway, they’ll lock you out for reporting too much)

…

My suggestion would be to not drive if you don’t have to.  Avoid roads that you know typically flood… interstates and main roads are typically better maintained, but you can still get clogged drains at underpasses, and I remember some particularly heavy rains years ago when US-301 was flooded out (and the car dealership in that area)

It’s also worth noting that there are a couple of types of flooding… there are flash floods, when it’s raining in your area, but there’s also the downstream flooding where water drains into the rivers and they swell and might hit hours or even a day later in other areas. (Those can be tracked by looking at the USGS rain gauges online; I think FEMA has a flooding website, too)

I like to keep a bag of clothes in my car (or office, if you take transit), and a bit of food and water and enough meds for a day or two.  It comes in handy when you get stuck working overnight because an upgrade failed or because you got called in at 10pm for a dying server.  It also means that if you end up staying late at a friend’s, you can crash on the couch instead of having to go home to make sure you have your medications.  If weather is bad and there’s a chance of being stuck overnight, a blanket is a good idea, too.

It’s National Preparedness Month, so you might want to take a look at some of the FEMA recommendations: https://www.ready.gov/

(My local branch is even having a Stop the Bleed class next week; if you’re looking for groups to talk about preparedness, check to see if your town or county has a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), as many of them will do outreach)

-Joe

(Not library affiliated right now, but I am NSP (National Ski Patrol) and CERT (Community Emergency Response Team))