Who Put The Flash In Flash Flood?!

This is a picture I took from my car window Friday afternoon while driving home from...well...from there. You KNOW how I am about driving in rain. No sooner had I text messaged the word p.a.n.i.c to a close friend of mine that I noticed this ditch. Expanding. Flowing. Running. Rain!!! During this little excursion I pulled over at least four times and changed directions once to get off the super highway where people were driving through rain like bats out of hell.

Don't they know you are supposed to slow down in those conditions?

I took an exit that was supposed to go to my old school haunting ground and it went somewhere I knew not. I was lost in the Pentecostal Holiness Church parking lot. Stranded in the rain with nothing but a puddle for company. And my cellphone. Which kept my friend busy trying to unnerve my nerves and squish my panic button.

Never did it occur to me that hydroplaning was the least of my worries. Stay put! she encouraged. But it was getting dark. I needed to get home before I got in real trouble. Every time I inched forward on the road to make it a little closer home, the rain worsened. Each time I changed directions it seemed the rain got heavier and the clouds darker. Following me they were. Then the stoplights went out and power trucks blocked the road. I had to turn around yet again.

At least off the four-lane was better - a little. I wasn't having flashbacks (pun intended) of spinning out of control in a runaway car. Of course the two-lane back road presented another problem. Bad road conditions and cars too close to the center line trying to avoid water ruts. At one time the water was so deep on the road (I was driving 20-35 mph) that it splashed from my tires all the way up to my windows beside my pencil head.

Like this. Except I wasn't driving a war car.

Just ahead on the right I saw a large slab of concrete/asphalt looking area that was smooth and glassy-looking...yes! a place to pull over quickly.....strange that it was so close to the edge of the road, but I didn't care. I thought I'd be safe there for a minute or two. 

Seconds before I pulled off the road into the "safe place" I realized it wasn't a mini parking lot at all.  

It was water.
Shiny glossy treacherous water.

Pooled from an overflowing creek and small pond off the road.

I nearly drove into a pond. 

NOW I know why flash floods are so dangerous. It's the flash part.

and then there's the Fireman

When I finally made it closer to my house I stopped at the fire station just to calm down and rest. My panic button was a little panicked. I didn't think there was anyone there until a <strike>hot</strike> very nice compassionate fireman pulled up beside my car and rolled down his window. Such niiiice eyes and smile. Even through the rain I could see he needed my help.

We're having dinner Thursday.

(PS. we're not really having dinner but wouldn't it have been a nice ending to my nightmare? Of course, I could always go back and thank him.)

I have written a meme in honor of water. Do you know the rules?
 What Happened To Me Last Year
Video: How To Escape From A Sinking Car
 Tips For Driving In Rain

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