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As someone who has experienced several serious floods, this is my favorite example of imagery's ability to craft a reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm

As someone who has experienced several serious floods, this is my favorite example of imagery's ability to craft a reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4 Floodwaters tend to stir up a lot of dirt and mud, so the water is usually totally opaque. That makes it very hard to tell how deep it is. A lot of overhead views of flooded neighborhoods look completely disastrous, but in reality it's just a foot or two of water that will just go away once the drains can handle it. But, sometimes, flooding really is severe and the damage is monumental. But it can be hard to distinguish those from imagery. Every picture of a flood looks biblical.

lesuorac 3y ago
> Is your oar hitting ground I thought it was really weird the way she was paddling but that line at the end of the video is probably the explanation.
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
People also completely underestimate how much force flowing water has. It's hard enough to walk in waist-deep water when it's still. Somehow they see a few feet of rushing water and they think "hey, I'm gonna drive my car through that"
- UncleEntity 3y ago
  Arizona has a law, aptly titled "stupid motorist law" or "idiot's law", which specifically addresses this. Yet people still drive into flooded roads and get swept downstream on a regular basis because "it's just a couple inches of water".
Goronmon 3y ago
A couple feet of water is still disastrous though. You're insurance most likely doesn't cover it and you could be left with tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage easily.
- munificent 3y ago
  It really depends. In my neighborhood in Louisiana, most yards sloped down to the street. So when the flood was a couple of feet at its deepest, most houses were still fully above the waterline. It's just that the streets were impassable and you needed a boat to get around.

lesuorac 3y ago

> Is your oar hitting ground I thought it was really weird the way she was paddling but that line at the end of the video is probably the explanation.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

People also completely underestimate how much force flowing water has. It's hard enough to walk in waist-deep water when it's still. Somehow they see a few feet of rushing water and they think "hey, I'm gonna drive my car through that"

UncleEntity 3y ago
Arizona has a law, aptly titled "stupid motorist law" or "idiot's law", which specifically addresses this. Yet people still drive into flooded roads and get swept downstream on a regular basis because "it's just a couple inches of water".

Goronmon 3y ago

A couple feet of water is still disastrous though. You're insurance most likely doesn't cover it and you could be left with tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage easily.

munificent 3y ago
It really depends. In my neighborhood in Louisiana, most yards sloped down to the street. So when the flood was a couple of feet at its deepest, most houses were still fully above the waterline. It's just that the streets were impassable and you needed a boat to get around.