Left the house this morning a little after 6:00AM to go to the office. Ten minutes later heading south on Huffsmith-Kohrville Road, about a mile past Boudreaux, I hit water in the road. It was raining and dark so I didn't see it in time to slow down. Speed was about 40 and the right wheel hit first and the force pulled the car toward the ditch. From that point forward, there was no steering control. The car went in the ditch and stopped about 10 feet in front of a telephone pole (whew!).

Of course, the first thing I did was try to drive out of the ditch using the shift to forward, then reverse, then forward technique to rock the car. No dice. So, next I removed my shoes and socks and rolled up the pants legs. Upon opening the door, water rushed into the car. The water level was just about even with the door threshold. I got out and closed the door. A fellow in a pickup stopped and said he had a rope and offered to pull me out. I thanked him and took the rope. After trying in vain for about five minutes to find a suitable place to tie the rope, I decided to call for a tow truck. I waded through the ditch to the passenger side door. Thank the lord it was above the water level. I got in and dialed 911. The operator said to call the Sheriff's department. Called the number and that operator told me to call 1411 to find a tow truck (duh). Called 1411 and that operator forwarded me to a tow truck operator in Tomball. This guy determined my location and said he could be there in 45 minutes. I told him the motor was running and I wanted to leave it running to make sure water didn't get in the exhaust.

While on the phone a large pickup pulled up and started trying to get my attention. I figured he wanted to try to pull me out. I was concentrating on the phone conversation and just rolled the window down so he could see I was talking. It was raining hard at that point so I quickly rolled the window back up. At the conclusion of the phone conversation, I got out and waded back over to the truck. He said he thought I might be hurt so he called 911. I got in his truck and introduced myself. In a few minutes an ambulance arrived. After finding me unhurt, the ambulance driver made me sign a waiver that I didn't need to go to the hospital. About now two sheriff's patrol cars showed up, and right behind them was a tow truck. I asked the tow truck driver to haul me out. Then I got back in the car and called the other tow truck guy to let him know this.

At first attempt, the car was pulled through the ditch but hung on the left side. Now the driver's side was high enough to keep more water from seeping in. Unfortunately, the other side was now leaking water in. By the time he rehooked and got the car out, both sides had about two inches of water in the floorboards. We drove up to the entrance to a subdivision and filled out the paperwork. The charge was $100 and I gave him a C-note to settle. I used my coffee cup to bail the water out. While doing this, it was raining heavily, so I got completely soaked. When there were only a few gallons left I got in and drove home. The rest of the story is the cleanup.

This first set of photos documents the water damage.

Removing mats and bailing out the floorboards...

Raising the front so the water drains to the rear...

Not nearly high enough, must raise really high...

This worked well. After bailing out as much as possible, a garden hose and sprayer were used to flush out with fresh water. After flushing, the water was bailed again. On the third flush, it looked fairly clean.

There should be more photos, but the camera crapped out. Guess it got wet.

Sure enough, after drying for a couple of hours, the camera began working again. This last set shows the final process of waiting a while and bailing more water. Each half hour or so gravity would yield about a quart of water standing just in front of the rear seats. The floor mats were hung on the inside of the garage door to drain.

Wonder if insurance will help pay towing???

Just called insurance. Yes, I have towing, and will get $80 refund. They also said to call back if there are future problems from the flooding. Woo Hoo!