[WheelsUp]

Hi all,

I live in Savannah, Ga, which finds itself in the projected path of Hurricane Irma. Looks like I'm going have to evacuate for the 2nd time in a year. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave my '15 Volt behind while the minivan gets evacuation duty. There's a good chance we'll get flooding in my area, so my question is, what should I do to prepare the Volt to give it the best chance of survival? I'm thinking I should disconnect the 12 volt battery, and pull the main disconnect for the traction battery. Is there anything detrimental in doing this? I'll probably put it up on jackstands, too. Anything else I should do?

 

[bjrosen]

Move the car to high ground. Find a parking lot that's on a hill, better yet find a parking garage and park on an upper floor. A few hundred dollars in parking fees is worth it to prevent your car from being destroyed.

 

[JD4JC]

I watched a YouTube video of a guy saving his BMW while the water was rising by jacking it up and putting it on blocks. Not recommended, but he went higher than the reach of his floor jack by using concrete blocks under the jack. Here's a link to such solutions (not the one I originally saw).

In your shoes, I'd try to get my Volt 3' or so above the highest part of my property. Good luck!

 

[LANMAN]

I bought cement blocks to put my Volt on during Harvey, but we only had street flooding where we are at. If we were in parts of Houston that got hit hard, the blocks wouldn't have been enough.

 

[Upper5Percent]

Hi all,

I live in Savannah, Ga, which finds itself in the projected path of Hurricane Irma. Looks like I'm going have to evacuate for the 2nd time in a year. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave my '15 Volt behind while the minivan gets evacuation duty. There's a good chance we'll get flooding in my area, so my question is, what should I do to prepare the Volt to give it the best chance of survival? I'm thinking I should disconnect the 12 volt battery, and pull the main disconnect for the traction battery. Is there anything detrimental in doing this? I'll probably put it up on jackstands, too. Anything else I should do?

Make sure your auto insurance has comprehensive that covers flood damage to your vehicle...

 

[Barry]

Evacuate with both vehicles. Hopefully you have two drivers in the household.

 

[bjrosen]

If your street is subject to flooding then it's a mistake to keep the car there. Put it in a parking garage on an upper floor. Parking garages are made of of reenforced concrete so they won't blow down in a hurricane and unless it's a flood of biblical proportions it won't reach the second floor, certainly not the third floor.

 

[fotomoto1]

During Harvey, some locals had the same parking garage idea but they went to a (free) shopping mall which had the police tow them off.

 

[Barry]

Considering how inherently movable a car is, and that you still have 4 full days to prepare, I don't see why there is any reason to leave the car in a flood prone area. Waterproofing the car seems like the wrong thing to be working on.

 

[bjrosen]

During Harvey, some locals had the same parking garage idea but they went to a (free) shopping mall which had the police tow them off.

I'm suggesting a paid parking garage. As for a parking mall that had peoples cars towed in the wake of a catastrophic storm, they should be boycotted, they deserve to go out of business.

 

[hellsop]

Hi all,

I live in Savannah, Ga, which finds itself in the projected path of Hurricane Irma. Looks like I'm going have to evacuate for the 2nd time in a year. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave my '15 Volt behind while the minivan gets evacuation duty. There's a good chance we'll get flooding in my area, so my question is, what should I do to prepare the Volt to give it the best chance of survival? I'm thinking I should disconnect the 12 volt battery, and pull the main disconnect for the traction battery. Is there anything detrimental in doing this? I'll probably put it up on jackstands, too. Anything else I should do?

If you pull the disconnect, you'll have to flatbed it to a dealership to reconnect. That's a one-way job. I recommend finding a nice parking ramp that isn't full yet and putting it anyplace a story up, preferably on an inside wall.

 

[marcusm]

If you can’t move it away from the area, definitely worth a few days’ parking charges on the upper floors of a paid garage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ZamboniMan]

If you can’t move it away from the area, definitely worth a few days’ parking charges on the upper floors of a paid garage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck! We're all hoping for the best! I'd definitely look into getting both vehicles out of the area. Perhaps an out of town family member can take it to their place?

 

[Mcgsp]

I whole heartily agree with BJ. During Hurricane Sandy I parked my vehicle in a high rise in the most interior sections in order to protect the car. Now while entrance of the bldg did flood on the lower levels and our area lost electricity, the car was untarnished on the upper levels. I can not say the same for friends of mine whose vehicles that were left on the street or housed in street level garages and parking lots. They were totaled either by flood waters or objects striking into them including a boat and tree limbs.

In short Flood waters are only one component of a huge storm like Irma, objects picked up by the high winds can devastate your vehicle, so why play russian roulette, and be penny wise pound foolish.

One side note make sure your fully charged, and a full tank of gas and leave some water inside your vehicle as extra place to store water should the pumps of your water system go out. Keep in mind Gas stations may loose power to pump, and of course you will have the benefit of driving on electrons once flood waters recede by taking these simple precautions. As for disconnecting battery, I would not think that necessary if your high up in a parking garage. Should damage occurred to your vehicle it would be from the parking structure being compromised not flood waters. But if you feel better about doing it go do it.

 

[JRRF]

There is no such thing as protecting your car from flood damage. If it gets flooded it will be trashed no matter what you do. Most flooded cars are sold for parts or scrap, or dried and resold to unsuspecting customers (which will be big business this year -- and should make all used car buyers beware of low prices). You only have two options. Move your car to higher ground (or man made ground), or pray. I usually put my bets on the former.

 

[WheelsUp]

Thanks to all for the input. I unfortunately will have to leave it here in the garage, but right now the flood risk looks to be lower now so hopefully all will be well. It's insured, so if it does get damaged I have a good excuse to upgrade to a Gen 2! Thanks especially to hellsop, I'll leave the batteries connected!

 

[NickHark]

Google: youtube flood car bag