The heavy machine coughed. And died.
An almost brand new, adored, metallic four-wheeler that is cherished because it’s forever on a diet – meaning her gas mileage is low, low. However, being a sedan, she comes with many challenges to overcome in this weather challenged part of the world that we live in.
A set of high-end winter tires and she saw me through one of the worst winters of our lifetime. When the sun started shining on a regular basis, I’m sure she thought it was going to be a smooth sailing for at least next few months. Alas, little did she know that the sunny side of our New England charm hides a sinister side – flash floods and rising waters that can be the waterloo for the meanest of machines.
That afternoon,it was clammy, but sunny. A mile into our ride and the wind started to build up. Little branches broke off and touched the ground, before being whipped up across the street and blend away. Within minutes, the downpour began. Another few minutes, the road underneath vanished under swirls of water gushing in from all sides. All of a sudden, the ears filled with screaming sirens as police cars sped past us, forcing our cars to the side. The traffic came to a stand still. I could feel the water rising steadily, tires getting sloshed.
My worry was if the water rose too much, we would all start floating. Often, imagination takes flight and you end up dreaming up the worst scenarios. If the cars didn’t float, we would be fine.
Or so I thought.
Hoping for the rain to stop, I waited in line. Soon after, the jam cleared, though the rain didn’t, though it had slowed down, after dumping what looked like an ocean of water and rock like hail that pelted on us mercilessly. We inched forward and slowly the traffic resumed. I turned a corner and faced a pond of water that had accumulated at a T junction. A few cars tore through the water, their tires spinning water out like a spin mill.
And I took the plunge.
I had no clue of, is that if water gets into engine, the car dies. I don’t know why I didn’t have this little piece of information tucked away in some nether part of my brain. May be because I have seen many a car forging ahead in swirling muddy waters because the country I come from, the cars brave water logging at every turn during the monsoon season for hours at stretch, and nothing happens to them.
So, my car died. Gone.
Moral of the story: If you drive a modern-day censor filled swanky car, water will be the waterloo of the said fancy car. Then you can only hope that once the car is totalled, the insurance will cough up the money for you to be able to buy your next set of decent wheels.
And stay away from rain water ponds. Forever.
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