When It Rains, It Pours!

Well, it's been one week and a day now since we had massive flooding around Fond du Lac. I was driving through town today, and it was really sad to see how many people had all kinds of stuff out by the curb that has been ruined by flood waters.

A week ago Thursday (June 12, 2008) I was just about ready to leave work for the day at 4:30 p.m., but then over the P.A. system, it was announced that there were tornado warnings for Fond du Lac county. Unfortunately, the warnings kept on extending into the evening, so I didn't leave work until sometime after 7:30 p.m. Well, the water was so high at one of the entrances to our school, that water was seeping in through the cracks. You can see how high the water was looking at this picture. We had a lot of water on the carpets as well.

What I didn't really realize until I was out to my car was that the parking lot where my Prius was had also been getting water...too much water. In fact, by the time I walked out to my car, I was walking in water half way up to my knees (if not more). This was not good. I actually had to enter my car through the back hatch because if I'd opened any of the passenger doors, I surely would have gotten water in the car. (And, don't call me Shirley!) Well, after I started to climb to the front of my Toyota Prius...I realized that I had about ankle-deep water on the floors. Not good at all. If you know anything about a Prius, you know that the Prius is essentially a computer on wheels. How many computers are in the Prius, you ask? 28 to be exact...all working in sync. Many of those comptuers are under the seats and under the floor. Naturally, I was really concerned about electrical problems. I had things in my Prius not working...such as speakers shorting out making all kinds of noises, parts of the touch screen were malfunctioning, the keyless entry was not working, etc.

I took my Prius up to Bergstrom Toyota in Oshkosh this past Saturday, and it's still up there...waiting for an insurance adjuster to come and look at it. People on Prius discussion boards have already suggested that I should try and have my Prius totaled because of the amount of water I had and the electircal components that could have suffered major damage. Obviously, this is probably the worst news I've ever had about my car. So, it's been a tough week for me...not knowing what is going to happen. Like I said, I'm really concerned about the long-term effects of water damage. I certainly don't want to be sinking extra $$ into my car down the road just because of water damage...and who would know if it was related to the flood or not.

So, that's the story for now. I'm Prius-less for a while. But, thankfully I have my parent's VW Passat station wagon to use.

Stay dry everyone!!!