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Flash flooding in EaDo serves as important reminder during heavy rain and hurricane season

During Wednesday’s storms, water quickly rose more than 7 feet at Navigation and Canal, catching drivers off guard.
HOUSTON — Hurricane season is underway, and Wednesday’s heavy rain and flooding served as major reminders of what drivers should — and shouldn’t — do during storms.
Drivers were caught off guard by flash flooding at Navigation and Canal in EaDo, where water quickly rose more than 7 feet.
It’s why first responders urge Houstonians to “stay at home, don’t roam.”
“You automatically know exactly what the situation is down there before you got up here. Right now, we’re at higher ground, almost 13 feet above where the water would be,” said Captain Beau Moreno with the HFD marine division.
He says they’ve been training since February, so they’re ready to respond to the avoidable, yet inevitable, water rescues.
“If you end up getting caught in floodwaters, remember the acronym POGO: Pop your seatbelt, open the window and get out,” Moreno said. “That’s one of the things we really need to preach to people.”
And you have to act fast. Moreno says drivers have only about a minute to roll their windows down before their car’s electricity gives out.
A study by AAA shows that using a hammer or a spring-loaded tool may not break your window to allow you to escape. That’s because crash safety regulations now require most cars 2020 and newer to have reinforced laminated glass.
“As soon as you told me, I was shocked, kind of scary because I have kids,” Gabriella Botello said.
She ended up stuck in downtown Houston during Hurricane Harvey and waded through waist-deep water. She’s now overly cautious in severe weather and ready to put into practice the idea: stay at home and don’t roam. She admits it’s hard to remember during an emergency.
“Yeah, with everything running through your mind at the last minute, I think that’s the last thing people think about.”
Again, HFD says the best option during flash flooding is to just stay home. If you have to drive, do not go into flooded areas. Don’t walk in floodwater either, because falling or getting swept away into a storm drain is a real risk.