“What an idiot!”
That’s what I always say when the news shows someone in a
stalled car on a flooded roadway.
“Sure, the dip in the road is now a swift-flowing river, but
I can still make it.”
We nearly joined their ranks in Coffeyville KS. The downpour
had already caused us to make two detours through town after seeing cars ahead
of us caught in the rising water. Let me tell you, seeking high ground in that
part of Kansas can be a real trick. We finally gave up and stopped to eat while
waiting for the deluge to ease up. By the time we finished, the rain had
stopped but the route out of town was still flooded. Another patron suggested 8th
Street as an alternative since it was higher and joined back up with the
highway on the edge of town.
We headed down 8th Street along with many others
who felt this was a good idea. Then everything came to a stop since that
passage looked equally treacherous. The vehicles in front of us were SUV’s so I
let a Toyota Corolla pull in front of me to let her act as my canary in the
coal mine. The SUV’s turned down another side street and made it through, but I
thought it would be iffy for me. The Toyota and a big Buick followed them so I
fell in behind. Surprisingly they made
it so I tried it. Water washed over the hood of the car (which I now refer to
as the bow), but we made it. The Toyota turned away from the direction I wanted
to go but the Buick headed back toward the highway so I followed. By now we
were in an area of open land surrounded by water for maybe 40 yds. Nothing indicated where the underwater
road was. I hoped a local drove the Buick and knew where the road.
I followed him. There was one more episode of nearly floating away
or stalling out before making it back to the highway. Unfortunately it wasn’t
until we were back on the highway that Terry said, “We should have taken
pictures.” Therefore yet again I have no pictures worth sharing. Sooner or
later I’ll get some, though.
“What an idiot!”
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