Comments on: Floods: Don’t go in them.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:16:43 +0000

Here in Texas we have things called low water crossings, where much of a flood puts water over the road. Note that yard sticks are put beside the crossing to show how deep the water is. (In Central Texas these go to 8 feet). There is also an advertising campaign turn around don’t drown. Of course every time it floods a few fools even drive around barriers and need the fire folks to rescue them. These are primarily on secondary roads not on the interstates btw. If you live in Houston you find curb deep standing water common, which is another reason to drive a pickup, since it can make it thru such water (not running standing).

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:57:04 +0000

Any fast flowing water is dangerous; it doesn’t have to be a flood. Just the normal creek and river flows when it rains in the mountains can move fast enough to knock you off your feet. I’ve even waled across a few very shallow but fast moving streams (only about ankle deep) and the rushing water excavates the sand as a foot is planted on the ground and quite a bit of force can be felt as a foot comes in contact with the water. People who haven’t grown up in such areas or weren’t taught (and don’t have any sense) just wouldn’t know though. Just look at the number of silly people every year who attempt to drive across a stream as it’s rising.

By: Randy Owens

Randy Owens — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:41:50 +0000

Well, I’m living near Tucson, Arizona right now, so I’ve seen a few, and had to drive the long way around the block (which means a few miles, out here in the sticks) to get home a few times. I haven’t had any experiences of getting closer than I should have, but of course, we see them on the news all the time (well, during July-September, anyway; our monsoon season).
And after some Internet legwork, I see that the video linked to is in my neck of the ~~woods~~ cactus, too. I haven’t driven or ridden on that road yet; maybe I’ll go check it out in the next couple of days, just to pinpoint it and see. (I just finished some motorcycle repair, so I’ve been itching to ride around anyway.)
Yes, Mom, I’ll check the weather forecast first!

By: hoary puccoon

hoary puccoon — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:16:41 +0000

More seriously, it has always bothered me that creationists use flood stories from around the world to “prove” the existence of Noah’s alleged world wide flood.

Between tsunamis; hurricane storm surges and heavy rains; wide river valleys flooding from snow melt; narrow mountain canyons flooding from summer thunderstorms; and even unusually high tides; it would be easy to “prove” a world-wide flood occurred within the last ten years, by providing flood stories from all over the place. Yet we all know that isn’t true.

By: hoary puccoon

hoary puccoon — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:26:22 +0000

Well, it wasn’t technically a flood, but my husband did manage to tip the canoe and leave me hanging in a tree when we tried canoeing on the Cele River in France, in May when the river was swollen by Spring rains. We should have paid more attention to the river’s name. Cele means “swift.”

By: Rorschach

Rorschach — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:58:51 +0000

Back in February when we had flooding in Australia, I was driving through a roundabout at night on my way to work, only to find myself in a lake of water all of a sudden. The roundabout was at the bottom of a little hill, and water had pooled in it. Had the car gone out, it would have washed me away.
Also, I’ve just returned from Bangkok, and was staying along the Chao Phraya river there. Lots of flooding, and riding a boat over a churning maelstrom of a river, with lots of floating weeds and tree branches and stuff, is an adventure in itself.

By: UK Jim

UK Jim — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:24:02 +0000

This from BBC news today (“UK Couple Killed in Flood”) seems relevant
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15414095