An SUV became stuck with its front end in a flooded roadside ditch on Three Rivers Road in Gulfport, Mississippi due to heavy rain. Video footage shows a light teal SUV tilted at an angle with its front end down in the flooded drainage area and its rear still above on the road. Water is seen flowing around it at the entrance to a shopping plaza.
Large parts of the roadway and the surrounding pavement were covered with water, visibility was lowered, and puddles formed along the road as the vehicles passed through the area. Orange traffic cones were nearby, and water had gathered at the entrances to the surrounding businesses. It certainly didn’t look like the best day to be out shopping, or driving at all.
The SUV’s position at the plaza entrance indicated that the driver had left the road and moved into the drainage area while moving. The video doesn’t show what took place right before the vehicle became stuck, so that part isn’t clear. The SUV itself didn’t move out of the area in the video, though.
Other drivers carried on driving through the water nearby. A car went through the intersection behind the parked SUV, splashing water from under its tires as it crossed the wet road. By the time the video ended, the SUV was still stuck at the edge of the flooded road while the rain continued. It didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.
Why Flooded Streets Hide Hazards Like Ditches
Standing water is hazardous primarily because it removes the visual cues that drivers rely on. When water covers the road, it hides the curbs, drainage ditches, shoulders, and the edge of the pavement, meaning a driver cannot judge where the solid road ends and where a drop-off begins. A roadside ditch, which would be clearly visible on a dry day, vanishes beneath a layer of brown water.
A driver who goes a few feet too far or turns wide to avoid deeper water might cause a wheel to go over an edge they did not see, and this is probably how they ended up in the ditch in this case.
The water also masks the depth and the speed at which it is moving. A section that’s flooded may seem shallow but can still have a ditch deep enough to take in the front of a vehicle. Even a small mistake when driving on a flooded road can cause a vehicle to become stuck, as happened to this SUV, or worse. Since drivers can’t tell from the surface what is below, it is safer to regard any flooded road as something unknown.
What to Do When You Encounter a Flooded Road
The main advice from emergency officials is the “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” rule, which means you shouldn’t drive into water if you don’t know how deep it is. Instead, you should take a different route. It’s surprisingly easy for a vehicle to lose control or begin to float when only a little water is involved. If a car leaves the road or stops in flowing water, it can very quickly become a dangerous situation. Whenever necessary, turning around and taking a longer route is safer than risking it by driving through a flooded area.
If a vehicle is stalled or left behind in rising or flowing water, authorities usually advise getting out and moving to higher ground if this can be done safely. Don’t stay in your vehicle, as you could end up being swept away. Reducing speed and increasing the distance between vehicles in heavy rain lowers the chance of ending up in that situation initially.
The most certain way to avoid such a situation is to avoid flooded roads altogether. Obviously, that can’t always happen, but it’s a good rule of thumb to stay away whenever you can.