HUMMER H2 vs FLASH FLOOD

[MuDnYrI]

Ok, so recently we had some rain in Las Vegas. After dinner I loaded up the Family in the Deuce in Search of a Flash Flood. I had never seen a Flash Flood so I was interested in what we could find. We drove up Charleston Blvd. towards Red Rock Canyon and here is what we found:

[video=youtube;vvp8NibAzm0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvp8NibAzm0&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

 

[ArtHummer]

Hahaha... That's what i call a "Hummer attitude".

"Huuu, I've heard that there is some danger on the road and it was advised to stay home to be safe... let's jump in the Hummer and try to find where this danger is and see if I can drive through it"

Every time it rains I have a feeling to jump in and find some flooded roads.

 

[autumn walker]

Cool video - you have to be careful with fast moving water though... can easily sweep away an H2.

 

[MuDnYrI]

These weren't that deep/fast moving or I would have never attempted it. I know this as I have forded deeper and faster water with my H2 while wheeling in NY and PA. I have more video of the Streets in Vegas with much Deeper water from that same night.

 

[nugget]

Don't want to be a downer but that was faster water than I would be comfortable with.

Have seen water like that wash the road away and guys nosedive their trucks into the hole. Just saying...

 

[3Hummers]

The worst flash flooding I have seen was in North Las Vegas. Far worse than what you found and nothing any of us would have attempted to cross. Vegas has a pathetic storm water system, roads get covered there often in big rains. Cool that your wife had such a good attitude about playing in the torment.

 

[cgalpha08]

I love how those 2 girls are like "look a hummer!!" Haha

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[08H3]

Have seen water like that wash the road away and guys nosedive their trucks into the hole. Just saying...

That's the danger. I'm by no means an expert, but just out of necessity to get to a part of our property, I've become quite accustomed to water crossings. There are so many factors, but the best advice I can give is to use extreme caution in fast moving water once it reaches the rockers. You can pretty much drive straight across just about any flow as long as it is going UNDER your truck, but once it starts pushing on the side, all hell can break loose in a hurry.

Still, nice video.

 

[ArtHummer]

There is allot to consider when crossing the moving water but the biggest problem that would made me wary is that the road can get washed under the road. It might look not that deep, but road will collapse under the weight of the truck. I'm not an expert on it to say in any way, but that didn't look to bad at all. I think H3 would be able to do it with ease, let alone the H2.
I think the weight would be the most important factor and you need to know a good line.
This is the scariest water crossin I've seen on YT. Off course thous trucks with logs weight ALLOT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcvCINDSdf8

 

[twinmill28]

My buddy is a firefighter in Northern Phoenix (Anthem) and has seen and dealt with first hand effects of people trying to take on flash floods. He's told me after seeing and rescuing/attempting to rescue that he can't believe how stupid we were when we were younger to have attempted the things we did. I've been strongly warned not to screw around with flash flooding as it will get you in a bad situation quicker than you can imagine.
Bottom line is unless you're in an emergency situation trying to get away from an even worse condition, don't mess with crossing flooded roads.

 

[3Hummers]

There is allot to consider when crossing the moving water but the biggest problem that would made me wary is that the road can get washed under the road. It might look not that deep, but road will collapse under the weight of the truck. I'm not an expert on it to say in any way, but that didn't look to bad at all. I think H3 would be able to do it with ease, let alone the H2.
I think the weight would be the most important factor and you need to know a good line.
This is the scariest water crossin I've seen on YT. Off course thous trucks with logs weight ALLOT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcvCINDSdf8

I guess having 30,000#s of cargo helps keep you down. If that guy had gotten stuck or broken something he would have been up the creek without a paddle though.





I know, terrible pun.

 

[alrock]

Welcome to the Wild West!

 

[MuDnYrI]

I'm not an expert on it to say in any way, but that didn't look to bad at all. I think H3 would be able to do it with ease, let alone the H2.
I think the weight would be the most important factor and you need to know a good line.

You are right it really wasn't bad. There are flash floods and there are "FLASH FLOODS!!!" This was not dangerous at all as well as you can see by the H2 going through it like a hot knife through butter. I have driven through much worse even in my old Bronco. I also know those roads very well as I frequent Red Rock quite a bit. I always see the roads covered in debris after it rains so I knew where to look and how deep the water would be.
I guess I should have added a disclaimer: "Don't try this at Home"

 

[Hunner]

I agree with all the warnings stated. You mention you new these had just occurred. Being able to judge the water flow and eddies over a smooth area helps to tell the conditions.
In more remote areas of course other dangers mentioned can be present. Scoured out holes can form and be dangerous. Walking areas you are not familiar with using a stick or line and bobber can be one way to judge a crossing but not fool proof. In swift current that can also be a danger to your body.
I have done a lot of whitewater canoeing and the force of water on a pinned kayak or canoe can be tons. We had to use come along winches to free some of them.
I regularly have to cross seven of these low water bridges to get to my boat. In the spring at times I have waited several hours before attempting them. Going slow and steady is the best approach but of course after a few test crossing you sometimes can't resist a little fun!

This hole when covered in water could flood a stock intake H3.

If your first to come along, winch time!

The force of the water is awesome. Campers in this area a few years ago were devasted.

Be carefull out there!

 

[jakesz28]

The Mississippi flooded a couple years ago by my house. They kept highway 67 open and had a guide vehicle lead traffic for the longest time. Then the water started to drop. Exposing how bad the road was washed out. They had to back fill under the road with cement. But before they could fix it they had to close down the road. It could have been worse if it had collapsed. So water can be a powerful tool.

Cool video just be careful when bringing kids along.

 

[HUMMERDAD]

The key thing here to all whom cross flood waters is it ONLY TAKES 1in of water moveing at the right speed to move any veichle. I have seen semi trucks loaded with 70,000 lbs get moved by storm water. Please be very carefull when playing with flood waters they are unforegiving and unpredictable and play by their own rules.

 

[nugget]

This was a flash flood in my neck of the woods and it wouldn't have looked to much different to the fast flowing water in the video....people die every year here driving through what they believe to be shallow flood water

 

[08H3]

The key thing here to all whom cross flood waters is it ONLY TAKES 1in of water moveing at the right speed to move any veichle. I have seen semi trucks loaded with 70,000 lbs get moved by storm water. Please be very carefull when playing with flood waters they are unforegiving and unpredictable and play by their own rules.

I'm not going to criticize you for being overly cautious, but not quite sure where you got the 1 inch figure. I can tell you for a fact that I crossed 3 inches of flowing water several times this weekend on the spillway on our drive-- and that was in a Fiero. Again, if you're not comfortable, don't drive it, but assuming I know the surface beneath, I'm not going to turn back for 1 inch of water. That image that nugget posted is still the biggest threat in my opinion.

Here's a good link of flood safety. They quote 12" and I have seen that before. In most cars 12" is more than I would try. LINK --> http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=hydro_tadd

 

[MuDnYrI]

The key thing here to all whom cross flood waters is it ONLY TAKES 1in of water moveing at the right speed to move any veichle. I have seen semi trucks loaded with 70,000 lbs get moved by storm water. Please be very carefull when playing with flood waters they are unforegiving and unpredictable and play by their own rules.

Come on HUMMERDAD 1 inch of water ... I'm gonna have to call :bs:until you prove that 1 to me.

This was a flash flood in my neck of the woods and it wouldn't have looked to much different to the fast flowing water in the video....people die every year here driving through what they believe to be shallow flood water

Now that's a flash flood!! I can assure you that every time it rains in Vegas the roads in the Video look the same as my Video. I know this because I drive up there all the time after the floods subside and
I can see the debrit in the road left from the "flash floods" from the day prior.
The RIVER in your picture is far worse than what I drove through and doesn't come close to the destruction pictured above.

 

[HUMMERDAD]

For those whom are skeptical it ALL DEPENDS on the SPEED of the water as I stated before. I am a former commercial driver with over 450,000 miles logged on the highways. I was not referring to your particular pic but rather a general statement believe what you will I know what I have seen!

 

[bendyprissy]

I think what some of the people here are concerned with is...it's one thing to put yourself in danger but suprising you would put your family in that "boat". Sorry if that sounded harsh.

 

[MuDnYrI]

I think what some of the people here are concerned with is...it's one thing to put yourself in danger but surprising you would put your family in that "boat". Sorry if that sounded harsh.

You're kidding me right? Watch the video again not only do I go through way less 1 foot of water in my 8000 pound Deuce, but a 2 door Toyota goes through it coming from the opposite direction right in front of me. When you make a statement like that you better be able to put your money where your mouth is. I have experience in fording water as well as knowing those roads and I made an educated decision. Let me ASSURE YOU "bendyprissy" I would never ever ever put my family in danger ... Just because you are afraid to cross that water doesn't mean it can't be crossed safely (as shown in my video) More experiance than the mud puddle at the end of Macy's parking lot is needed to understand what's safe and what's not. You most likely have no idea what your HUMMER is capable of ... Kinda reminds me of the extended clip/assault rifle argument ... if you are afraid of it ... it's got to be wrong. Maybe you should stick to worrying about running into "Bigfoot" on the trail instead of commenting on me and my family and something you quite clearly know nothing about.

 

[08H3]

OK, I'm going to stand up for MudnyrI. I've seldom seen someone take so much heat for a video like this. Would I have driven through it? No, I would not have, BUT even though I don't know MudnyrI, I'm going to assume he cares for his family and didn't put them into a situation that he felt was unnecessarily dangerous. It's all relative. I have some acquaintances that feel by merely going off the pavement on something as mundane as a fire trail with my family riding along that I'm irresponsible. Seems like a lot of this thread has evolved in bashing the original poster without a whole lot to back it up. Bottom line is be safe and use common sense.

 

[bendyprissy]

Wow, that was mean! I was not the only one who said what I said here, but I just used different words (I have never been able to BS around). If you look back over everyone's comments then you would see that 2 people had no concerns while 9 did. I'm not saying you don't care about your family; I don't know you, maybe you do and maybe you don't. I also have no idea what you or your vehicle are capable of and I am overjoyed that you are an off-road water master. I just wonder why I was the only one to receive your attack? Oh well, what do I know, guess I'll just go back to the mud puddle at the end of the Macy's parking lot & see if I can discover Bigfoot.

 

[3Hummers]

I have made a few water crossings in my time offroad and I will agree that a measure of experience goes a long way. I have never attempted any crossing that I had any concern about. I understand the comments about not knowing what is under the water sometimes because I have seen washed out roads/bridges that you couldn't tell at the time were eroded away but you knew from the depth and force of the water that you shouldn't attempt the crossing. It seems like the fire/rescue guys have to pull a couple of people out of the drink in every big storm in the Arlington, TX area. There are some low lying roads that frequently get flooded and even though they show these rescues on TV they are doing it all over again in the next big storm. So experience, a healthy respect for the power of moving water and caution are all involved.
Julie, don't bother looking for BigFoot. I hear he is in Colorado right now.