As the name suggests, flash floods occur suddenly, usually without warning.
Flash floods happened recently when heavy rains struck the Durban area. It must be a genuinely frightening experience when your car stalls in a flash flood with swirling waters around you rising fast.
If you should ever be in such a situation, it will be helpful to know the following safety tips.
- Stay up to date with weather reports
Even though flash floods are unpredictable, a lot of rainfall will at least warn you of the risk of such floods1. Prevention is better than cure, so if the weatherman says heavy rain is on the way, stay safe at home.
- What to do while driving
Driving along the freeway, you suddenly see the flood waters ahead. If necessary, immediately abandon your car and move to higher ground.1 You can always get another car but not another ‘you’. Stay at home or the office when you hear about a flash flood warning, and only leave when safe.
When raining, avoid large puddles of water on the road. Most cars, including SUVs and trucks, can stall in 15 cm of water1. When water is 60 cm deep, your car will start to float1. If you must abandon your car, make your way to higher ground as fast as possible. Be aware that fast-moving water 15 cm deep can sweep you off your feet.
- When you are trapped in a sinking car
If the water level around your car is rising fast, these are the steps you should take. 1
- Do not panic
It’s easy to say this when it’s not happening to you, but whether you panic or not can affect your life. Just take a deep breath, but don’t try and open the door as it will be impossible to do so1. Also, forget phoning an emergency number as time is of the essence.
- Unbuckle the safety belt
If you are the driver, release your safety belt and instruct everyone else to do the same1.
- Lower a car window
You may only have 30 seconds to achieve this. Automatic windows will still open if the car is not submerged. If you are the driver, try to open all the passengers’ windows. Then, everyone needs to escape through each window1.
If your window won’t open. you’ll need to smash the window – take care as broken glass will rush towards you. Never try and break the windscreen, as this is not possible. Rather break the smaller side windows by using a metal object (like a screwdriver or an umbrella) to hit the window at its centre as hard as possible. If that doesn’t work, you can try and kick it open, but this can be most difficult to achieve1.
- Avoid holding onto your floating car
This is too dangerous, so swim away towards the bank and climb out when you approach the higher ground1.
These tips cover several dangerous scenarios and serves as a summary of information on how you can behave in such conditions only.
Surviving such a dangerous event is most important. Once you are safe, the next question becomes: “What will you do about your damaged car?” Do you have car insurance that covers you for natural disasters? Find out from your insurer if your policy covers your car in such situations.
Are you also looking for affordable car insurance that provides total loss cover for natural disasters? Get affordable, comprehensive car insurance with natural disaster cover and unique benefits like fixed premiums* and an excess that reduces to zero*.
* T’s and C’s apply.
Source:
1https://blog.americansafetycouncil.com/how-to-survive-a-flash-flood-in-your-car-2/
This article was prepared by Eric Sandmann in his personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. The views and opinions in the article should not be attributed to anyone but the author unless expressly stated. Nothing in this article should be relied upon as advice, this publication is presented for informational purposes only. No person should act or refrain from acting in reliance on any information found in this article, without first obtaining proper financial advice from the appropriate professional. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, or completeness, of any information linked from, referred to, or contained in this article. The author reserves the right, to edit and change the content of this article.