Floods

Post by **mal** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:21 pm

I sincerely hope that this recent spate of weather hasn't affected members of this forum.... homes and cars

It's rather a funny situation at the moment regarding the state of the floods throughout the country, the show I was initially going to today was in the heart of North Yorkshire but after seeing reports of the floods on TV in that area I decided to go up North into Co; Durham, to a show I used to attend.
During my journey I saw lay-byes flooded out and several fields underwater but it has been a nice sunny, warm day with just two light showers which only lasted a couple of minutes. Strange to think that 10 mile further up the road from the show villages were flooded out, must admit that when I returned home at teatime and saw the national news my heart went out to all the people in those areas, hope those effected soon get some sort of normality back in their lives....

Mal

Post by **Peetee** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:49 am

Seconded. And whilst our pockets don't stretch to helping out on the home front, In the spirit of the board, I'm sure the majority of us here would help out in anyway we can when it comes to getting the mogs running again. I'm sure they will fare much better than modern tin in that respect

.
Don't be afraid to ask.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:45 pm

Leamington was only affected a little, and certainly not my area. However it did lead me into a bit of a pickle last night.
I was heading to somehwere between Ross on Wye and Abergavenny to collect a car - I got horribly lost and was trying to pick my way back to Ross... I followed a sign as the road was leading to a village I had passed earlier on. After driving 3 miles down this track which seemed to get progressively narrower, I was aware that the fields to my right were indeed much more black and shiny than they should have been (it was dark by now).
Feeling nervous, I wanted to turn round but an 18 foot truck and 20 foot trailer doesn't lead itself to turning round in a 7 foot wide road (I know it was 7 foot because it was the same width as the trailer).
I carried on with baited breath until the road headed downwards... and all I could see in front was a lake.

For the first 20 metres I drove a long the road as I could see the grass at the side of the road in the water. When that stopped I wasn't so sure how deep it was going to get and I didn't want to have to reverse the trailer when it was hidden underwater!
Therefore I stopped and rolled my trousers up and walked onwards to see how deep it got. it took no effort at all to wade right onwards. I stopped 30 metres later when it reached above my knees - at this point I had 2 reasons to give up. Fistly I couldn't roll my jeans up any further, and more importantly, the truck engine air intake is about knee height!

Wading back to the truck was a different matter - it was at this point I realised I was in a river not a lake

Fortunately it wasn't a raging torrent but certainly less easy to wade through.

Anyway - I managed to reverse the truck and trailer back 400 metres in a mere 40 minutes or so of stress (not being able to see where the road was),. Ther was eventually a point where i could unhitch and turn them round (another thing easier said than done).
And after that, it all ended well.

my little adventure right into the river Wye was only a walk in the park compared to what many people had to suffer. That brought it home to me how a lot of the people affected had no way out of it! (I had a lot of trouble to get out of it but at least there was a way out!)

Post by **Judge** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:33 pm

No disrespect Ray, but I think I'll lead on the LEO Run

By the way, our sitting room was flooded in September last year. The water did not come in from outside, but literally through the floor as a result of the water table rising. Due to various problems following this, the room is still unusable.

Post by **Peetee** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:30 pm

but an 18 foot truck and 20 foot trailer

Zoiks!

I'm back to work tomorrow. You don't happen to know where the air intake is on a 7.5 ton DAF is do you?

Post by **mickessex** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:37 pm

I'm back to work tomorrow. You don't happen to know where the air intake is on a 7.5 ton DAF is do you?

About 18" from the ground! Good luck,
it's higher than my 7.5t Merc which is at the lowest point under the cab

Post by **ben739** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:43 pm

a place here in USA in Texas, got 17 inches of rain in 12 hours. my heart goes out to you all.

Post by **Peetee** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:10 pm

About 18" from the ground!

Double zoiks!

I have been pretty close then on two trips through fords!!!

Post by **rayofleamington** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:54 pm

Having had to make an 'enviroment' study on underbonnet components, I learnt a lot quite quickly. If you drive slowly through deep water the water stays mostly where it should be (low down)

If you drive quickly through deep water, the entire underbonnet area turns into a spa whirlpool - on modern cars you may survive that as all the electrical connectors 'should' be sealed, however most of your electric motors will be vented... They start off nice and hot from the journey to the flood, then when they get a nice cold bath, they cool down and the cooling causes the air to shrink and they will suck loads of water in.
On a pre-90's car it's unlikely that all electrical connectors are sealed, so if you survive driving through a flood you can be plagued with electrical problems weeks/months afterwards when the terminals have corroded.
I still come across people recomending to drive hard through water - I even heard a radio presenter saying he goes as fast as possible! it makes me weep

Revs up (purely to minimise any risk of stalling) , speed down, nice and careful - and if you don't know how deep it is, don't drive through it!!!

No disrespect Ray, but I think I'll lead on the LEO Run

Feel free, but if the going gets tough you'll always be able to find a front man ;-) My dashboard compass arrived today so will be able to get you anywhere

Getting lost - actually my directions were spot on - my only mistake had been following the directions from the first roundabout near Ross, instead of the second. :doh:

Post by **mal** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:14 pm

I sincerely hope that this recent spate of weather hasn't affected members of this forum.... homes and cars

Obviously not

as my genuine concern for others has now ended up being a discussion on air intakes

Mal

Post by **RogerRust** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:11 am

We all share your concern Mal, but you know how these things get sidetracked!

We are flooded in the village is dry but the bridges are impassable. There is sill one route out and in, but it means a long diversion. The Great Ouse floods regularly, there is no building on the flood plain so all it does is block the roads.

My advice is not to wade the car because the catalytic converter is very expensive and subject to failure due to sudden cooling. We used to take the old Volvo through it was good fun!

Post by **Kevin** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:43 am

Well all who are affected have my sympathies and if we do have some posters from the Gloucester area it may be a while before they are back on line unforunately.

Post by **Judge** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:55 am

Sorry Mal, but I did mention my 'internal' flood

Post by **elmo58** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:25 am

have just watched the news on TV about the flooding over there,we have had some serious flooding here in NZ but nothing like you guys are. i saw in one post that some one hoped all the moggies were okay. it is the human cost that is the most important as long as every one is ok. material possesions can always be replaced. our thoughts here are with you

Post by **plastic_orange** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:51 pm

Be very careful about driving your car through water as it may enter your induction system (shouldn't happen to a minor) and cause a hydraulic lock - this equals 1 destroyed engine.
One of our Fire appliances did just that during a local Flood about 5 years ago and water was sucked through causing this damage.
Also don't wade about in the flood water if you don't have to - loads of nasties that can give you health problems, plus test your footing every time as you never know where that big hole is.
I've witnessed first hand the problems of flooding, and I can only sympathise with those affected. A bigger problem I think will come when the floods recede and there isn't enough tradesmen/materials etc to go round.
In the Perth floods of the early 90's, people were out of their houses for well over a year - not pleasant.

Pete

Post by **rayofleamington** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:40 pm

Also don't wade about in the flood water if you don't have to - loads of nasties that can give you health problems

I can certainly imagine that in towns and cities - when the water level rises above the sewers, the sewer water isn't going to stay underground

I was wondering why there wasn't advice for the flooded towns for the people on higher ground to avoid flushing their loos - as all their sewage will just come out into the streets and houses of the flooded areas

Post by **theminorsite** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:28 pm

rayofleamington wrote:Having had to make an 'enviroment' study on underbonnet components, I learnt a lot quite quickly. If you drive slowly through deep water the water stays mostly where it should be (low down)

If you drive quickly through deep water, the entire underbonnet area turns into a spa whirlpool - on modern cars you may survive that as all the electrical connectors 'should' be sealed, however most of your electric motors will be vented... They start off nice and hot from the journey to the flood, then when they get a nice cold bath, they cool down and the cooling causes the air to shrink and they will suck loads of water in.
On a pre-90's car it's unlikely that all electrical connectors are sealed, so if you survive driving through a flood you can be plagued with electrical problems weeks/months afterwards when the terminals have corroded.
I still come across people recomending to drive hard through water - I even heard a radio presenter saying he goes as fast as possible! it makes me weep
Revs up (purely to minimise any risk of stalling) , speed down, nice and careful - and if you don't know how deep it is, don't drive through it!!!

Second that! I've fitted a snorkel to my 110 Station Wagon which gives me a bit more room to work with (if its high enough to get in the snorkel I *am* in trouble as its above the windscreen!) but I'd offer one more snippet there: remember that at night your headlight bulbs get a little hot, and water has a way of finding its way in behind the lens and cooling the bulbs down a little *too* rapidly. Being in a flood's a b*mmer, but being in it in the dark with no lights is a sight worse!!!

Post by **eastona** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:07 pm

Hi chaps.

I live in Gloucester and work in Malvern.

Took me 3Hrs on Friday night to get home (I set off at 1430, it's normally 35-40 minutes) and my wife 7hrs from Worcester. I do it every day in my '69 four door, so it's well used to the journey.

Defo drive slowly through floods, keep the revs high and slip the clutch if necessary. Doing that I safely managed to get through up to 2 feet of water, although grip does become difficult with the sludge inevitibly in the bottom and the car starting to float a little.

Unfortunately, at one point it did die in the middle of a large pool, I let the revs drop and it started to misfire and then just stalled. I had to jump out and push. Fortunately being light the minor is OK for that, the interior fared less well, and needed bailing out! A quick dry of the dizzy, clean the points and it was off! I've taken the carpets out, and probably need to replace them, they were a bit tatty to start with. (My brogues took a few days to dry out, and my chinos were wet up to my thighs!)

I managed to get through where only 4X4s and tractors feared to tread! (OK,

and transit vans!) Although higher than that and I'd have been well and truly stuck.

I loved my minor 1000 before this, but even more so now. I think I need to treat her to a little TLC this weekend!

I do concede I'm well off compared to others, I have power, but no water, but I can shower and get water at work. I count myself lucky.

Post by **dumbo** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:25 pm

elmo58 wrote:have just watched the news on TV about the flooding over there,we have had some serious flooding here in NZ but nothing like you guys are. i saw in one post that some one hoped all the moggies were okay. it is the human cost that is the most important as long as every one is ok. material possesions can always be replaced. our thoughts here are with you

take a look at my local radio site bbc.co.uk/gloucestershireI was caught in the middle of priming the cure-rust when it came down.
The car is safely in the garage though!

Post by **eastona** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:12 pm

Hi dumbo, where are you?