BRAINTREE, Mass. — One of the busiest highways just outside of Boston was forced to shut down Thursday during the morning rush as cars stalled out and got stuck in floodwaters.
AAA says although this was rare to see on 93 near Braintree, it’s another reminder to never try driving through floodwaters.
“Another vehicle coming from the other direction might cause a wake like a boat wake, and then all of a sudden you’re dealing with those waves and they’re crashing over the hood of your vehicle,” said Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson for AAA.
If you do get stuck in water, stop and call for help.
“Do not try and restart it because if it stalls when you’re in the water, it could end up causing mechanical damage that might have not been there prior to it dying,” said Brandon Ballou, manager at Trustworthy Auto.
Ballou says if this happens to you, make sure to take pictures of your car in the flood to send to the insurance.
Then get the car towed to a professional to check out the damage.
“It could end up being like a no-charge fix to where it just caused the check engine light to come on because water messed with some of the sensors, to being thousands to potentially a total loss of the vehicle,” said Ballou.
MassDOT says it routinely inspects highway drainage systems that follow the latest standards, but sometimes, when a major storm dumps several inches of rain in a short period of time, the drains can’t keep up with all that stormwater, so it’s also up to drivers to be vigilant.
On Thursday, more than 4 inches of rain quickly piled up on Interstate 93 in Milton.
“Unfortunately, half of all flood-related drownings in this country, according to the CDC, occur when people drive in floodwaters, so really you have to try to avoid these types of situations,” said Schieldrop.
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