Turn around, don’t drown.
The safety slogan often shared in flood zones sums it up in the simplest terms, but many people aren’t getting the message.
In fact, some people regularly risk their lives by ignoring barricades and driving on flooded roadways.
The Yazoo County Dive Team recently had to rescue a man who drove past barricades on Callihan Road and attempted to drive through a flooded roadway before his truck was swept away.
Jack Willingham, director of the Yazoo County Emergency Management Agency, said the man was lucky to survive.
“I told him the good news is that he’s alive, and the bad news is that it’s going to be a while before his vehicle can be recovered,” Willingham said.
Willingham is urging residents to avoid roads that are closed due to flooding. Six inches of water is enough to cause most passenger cars to possibly lose control or stall. A foot of water is all it takes to float many vehicles. Two feet of moving water is enough to carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and trucks.
“It doesn’t take much water to create a dangerous situation,” he said. “And you can’t really tell how much water is there.”
Anyone driving on a closed road can be ticketed.
