flooded cars 101
Experts reveal what to do if your car has been flooded in Houston
Flooded cars are again a major concern for Houston drivers. If your car has fallen victim, here's what to do next.
First, if you've had to abandon your car and it was towed away, you can locate it in Houston using findmytowedcar.com or call the Harris County Tow Line at 713-308-8580. You can also call 311 and ask for the tow line.
ABC13/Eyewitness News asked the experts at Universal Technical Institute to offer tips on what to do next. "If it got up under the seats, you might be alright to go by drying the car out. But if he gets up on the dash, you might have a problem with that car later on and you have to try it out as fast as you can," says Charlie Ryder, an instructor at UTI.
Ryder says drivers need to start the process of drying out a car right way because if the car sits, mold can start growing causing other problems.
"A car like this are the seats are saturated so you want to take the seats out standing on the end so the water will run off of them and try them out pull the carpet out of the vehicle hangover clothesline," he says.
Ryder says while you can dry out the inside of a car, there is one thing you should never ever do if your car stalls in high water: Try to restart it before draining the fluids first.
"Starting your car, if you've got water in your oil, it can destroy your engine. Same way with the transmission," he adds.
And drain those fluids right away. Ryder advises having the car towed to your mechanic. If you do not have a mechanic, do some research now and find one you trust before you need one.
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