Floodin down in Texas…
It’s often said in Texas that if you don’t like the weather, just stick around for a while. During the past week, we went through a span where it rained nearly every day. The Austin area averages about 32 inches of precipitation annually, but we’ll often go several months without any significant rain, and then it will pour non-stop for a week. During this period, the ground easily becomes saturated, and some areas begin to flood. It happens every year, in exactly the same way.
What also occurs every year is that there are flood related deaths resulting from motorists who make the incredibly unwise decision to drive through low water crossings. You might think that the water flowing over the road would be a fair warning. I might suggest that if you cannot see the road, it’s not safe to drive on it. That would seem reasonable. In most cases, drivers are not required to make judgments about road conditions or the safety of flowing water. Instead, the city is nice enough to put out highly visible roadblocks. Sometimes they even have flashing orange lights! But, does that do the job? Uh, no. Many drivers simply maneuver around the roadblocks and other warning signs, and attempt to cross anyway. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as those signs say. My SUV weighs five tons after all. Water may have carved out the Grand Canyon, but it won’t budge my Land Rover.
It’s worth noting that Texas also leads the nation in vehicle-train collisions. There seems to be a widening gulf between the knee jerk “I can make it” style of driving and plain old common sense. It’s a shame really. In light of recent national events, common sense was already having a rough year.
