During periods of excessive rain, listening to local news or watching local news channels will help you identify which areas have
been affected by flooding. This will enable you to plan your journey such that you can avoid any roads that have been severely affected.

However, if the downpour was mega, like it was for two days recently, you may still end up on a flooded road with no alternative
but to drive through it. When faced with driving through a flooded road, you need to exercise a good level of caution, the temptation may be to "power through" i.e. drive fast, but this can cause you to lose control and could cause an accident, or stall your car.

It is best not to proceed if the water level rises above the bottom of your car's door as this means there's a high chance that
the water could "enter" into the engine bay, cause the engine to stall and damage it. If you have no choice but to drive through it, step lightly on the accelerator pedal and maintain a steady speed through the water. You can judge if the speed is right by the intensity in which the water around your car is being swirled. If your does "die' on you and you are stuck, then you will probably need to be towed out. Look to see if the water around you is deep or fast moving. If so, you are safer inside your car and should use your mobile phone to call for assistance.

Last but not least, after driving in flooded areas (it does not matter if the water was deep or shallow), get your car checked before you make your next journey anywhere. There are also a number of simple checks that you can perform on your own - look underneath the car to see if any objects may have got caught and check the engine oil (by pulling out the dipstick) to see if it has gone beige or "milky" which means that the oil has mixed with water. If so, don't drive your car until you have had all of the water damage seen to.

(Honda D16 engine with extensive water damage)

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