AP’s The Big Story blog posted a story yesterday on the deaths caused by the floods that recently swept South Carolina.  Ten people drowned in their cars in the Columbia SC area from October 3 to 5 as flood waters ravaged the city.

“Some were going to work. Some were going to someone else’s aid. Some people were just caught by surprise. Unfortunately, they all ended up the same place,” said Richland County Coroner Gary Watts, who investigated nine of the drownings. “Just stay off the roads when it might be flooding. Water is much more powerful than you might think.”

The stories are stark and powerful; the message is clear.  Don’t go out in flooding conditions if you can help it unless you are in imminent danger in your house.  No one died in a house in South Carolina in the flooding, although 1500 people were rescued.  If you are driving and you see flooding in an unfamiliar place, observe water crossing the road you are on, or heavy rainfall that continues over time, turn around and find a safe place to wait out the storm.  You are not safer in an SUV or truck either, since their high profiles make them more prone to overturning when the water buoys them up.

The National Weather Service says “Turn around; don’t drown.”  Unfortunately, too many people drowned ignoring that message.

Source: FEMA via Commons Wikimedia
Source: FEMA via Commons Wikimedia