Storm surge and your car

Florence is coming. This huge hurricane will make landfall sometime in the next day or so, and will bring with it storm surge - a piling-up of seawater that will cause flooding to a depth of as much as nine feet.

Even if you think that you're safe from the storm, even if you're in a reinforced building well above flood level, one thing you need to ask yourself is: where is your car parked?

For most people, the answer will be "on the street." And that's a very bad place for it to be. At the very least you can expect your vehicle to be flooded, sustaining waster damage that will leave a soggy, smelly mess. A little more water - two to three feet, according to the Weather Channel - can float your car. More than that will flood the engine compartment and the entire inside of your car. This isn't just water we're talking about - this is salty sea water, probably full of particles of sand. In addition to the damage to your paint job, salt water can interact unpleasantly with your car's battery, electrical system, and fuel. After Coney Island and other parts of New York City were flooded by Superstorm Sandy back in 2012, numerous inundated vehicles shorted out and caught fire - and sometimes exploded.

Not every car flooded by storm surge will be destroyed. Some will be cleaned up and put back on the market without any information regarding their flood-damaged status. Just as after Sandy, for the next few years buyers of used cars will need to carefully inspect all vehicles for tell-tale signs of flood damage.

It would be so much easier for people in the danger zone to avoid all this by getting themselves - and their cars - to the safety of higher ground. Please consider it.