You may not ever think that you will be in a hurricane or in an area following a hurricane, but you just never know! You may want to prepare for this situation so that if you are ever in a hurricane, or driving following one, you will be safe and know what to do. Driving following a natural disaster such as this is not your normal situation and lots of factors come into play that you would never think of otherwise.
Not too long ago, Hurricane Irene with all its devastation crashed through the states in the east. This natural disaster left lots of damage and flooding at its passing. There were families all over the place struggling to survive without power and food and water. There was debris all over the neighborhoods. In this type of scenario, it is important to proceed with caution through your neighborhood and city as there are dangers lurking all around.
First of all, you don't want to start a car with a wet engine. If the car was in a flood or it gets into deep water, it shouldn't be turned on until it dries out or you can ruin your engine and be without transportation. It may be hard to resist the urge to start the car, but if you ruin the engine, you may be without a car for a really long period of time instead of just for a short time while the engine dries out.
If you can help it, don't drive into standing water. Normally, when you see a puddle and drive through it, it poses no risk but just makes a splash as you go through it. But following a hurricane, you never know what lies beneath the water. It can be deep holes and things that can pop or ruin your tires.
Sometimes when you see debris on the road it is just tree pieces or leaves and other harmless things. A storm like this can blow lots of leaves and such around. However, there can also be lots of dangerous debris in the debris piles as well such as nails and other things that can damage a car. You should always be prepared with an emergency kit in your car as well as a spare tire kit. Make sure every driver in your household knows how to change a flat tire just in case they ever need to and don't have help.
Be aware that when your brakes are wet they may not work as well as normal. You can lightly apply the brake pedal to try to dry the brakes and be more cautious with wet brakes. You will need to allow a much longer stopping distance than normal so that you give the brakes a chance to work even though they are wet.
You will not want to drive very fast in this type of situation. You will likely need to drive far under the speed limit and be extra cautious. People and animals are often scared and not themselves following a natural disaster and they can dart out in the road in front of you. You can also come upon debris and barricades in the road unexpectedly and all of a sudden.
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