Erin's van is under-water, and all I can do is sit here and blog about it...

Yep, that's what happened. We had a big rainstorm here in Charleston and all the streets were flooded. We were trying to get our girlie's to bed, so we had already decided to wait out the storm before Erin and her mother returned over to the hospital to see our little guy in the PCICU.

I suggested they take Erin's van instead of her Mom's little Toyota, because it had a parking pass in it, and might not get stuck in the water. I also cautioned her to avoid the big puddles, because it was dark and hard to see how deep they were.

After Erin left, I went to the bathroom, took out my contacts, and opened up my laptop to see if we were able to pick up wireless in our apartment. As you might figure out, by the fact that I am typing this blog, we do have it. Then I got the phone call about 10 minutes later.

Erin frantically told me that she had avoided a number of large puddles, but had driven into this one and stalled out the car. She could tell that the water was above the bottom of the doors, and was afraid to open them and let the water in... what should she do?

What should she do? How about don't drive our van into the river. How about considering the fact that you so no-one go through this "puddle" before you tried it. How about don't call me, when I am totally helpless to do anything to help.

But I didn't say any of these things. They are not what she needed to hear when she could feel the van rock back and forth in the waves... yes, that's right. The WAVES! Erin was freaking out, and I didn't have any way to reach her, except waking the girls up and putting them in the bike trailer and floating our way over to her. (Sure we would be soaked, but I can't get flooded out on a bike.)

Fortunately, Erin stopped hyperventilating long enough to flag down 2 college students, and coax them into PUSHING her out of the swimming pool she driven into. (By the way, she did this without ever leaving the vehicle.) These poor fellas were in water over their waist, pushing my beautiful wife out of the drink, while I sat at home waiting for the next update from her. Talk about feeling helpless...

The next update: They pushed her out of the water on to dry land, but the van is still sticking out into the street. Should Erin leave it there and walk to the hospital? I asked her if the guys were still around that just helped her. She responded "no," that the left after they got her out of the water. (I can't say that I blame them.) I suggested that Erin and her Mom attempt to push the van into a driveway, even though they probably wouldn't be able to do themselves. Again, Erin found someone who was willing to help them push the car up a slight hill, while water poured out of the tailpipe. Safe at last!

Erin called me to let me know that they were walking to the hospital now, and asked me if I would help her retrieve the car later tonight, or in the morning. She then reminded me that I forgot to attach our new license plate to the van, so as of July 1st the van has expired tags, and probably should not sit for a prolonged amount of time, where a cop might run the plates on it.

Fortunately, we left my XTerra at the hospital earlier today, so Erin should have a way home tonight. And, even though I pretend to throw a fit I am very grateful that she is safe, and that the Van isn't bobbing out to sea across the Cooper River. God was watching out for them tonight. I hope Erin is able to get a normal pulse back sometime soon...

Have you, or someone you know flooded out a car before? If not, Erin could show you how to do it right!