This Waterproof Bag Is Supposed to Protect Your Car in a Flood, But We Aren’t Completely Convinced
Photo: Cars Insider (Facebook)
There’s a video circulating on Facebook, which leads back to a story from Business Insider, highlighting a pretty interesting invention: the Flood Guard.
The Flood Guard is essentially a giant waterproof bag that is signed to protect your car during a flood. Here’s how it’s supposed to work.
Assembly requires at least two people. One person will start by opening up the bag on a flat surface, such as the ground of a parking lot or your garage. The other will get inside the car and drive it forward until the car is on top of the bag. Once the second person has exited the car, you can zip up the bag, buckle it together, attach the included padding, and secure it to a strong, stationary structure. In theory, your car is completely sealed up, safe from any flood waters or damage, and securing it to a sturdy structure will prevent it from floating away.
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While this all sounds great in theory, we have a few questions. First, the Flood Guard claims to protect your car from floating debris. But we have a feeling that if a car, motorcycle, bicycle, or other large item is swept away in the flood waters and rams into your not-going-anywhere-because-it’s-tied-to-a-lamp-post vehicle, it’s going to cause some damage, even with a waterproof cover.
Another question to ponder is how durable the material is. Is it possible that a sharp piece of debris could rip open the Flood Guard, allowing water to spill into your vehicle’s cabin?
In terms of what fixed objects you tie your car to, that’s a tricky one. While it may seem safe to tie your car to a tree or a telephone pole, those things can easily be torn down during a severe storm like the ones in Texas and Puerto Rico last year. If you end up securing your car’s Flood Guard to a neighboring tree and the tree falls down, it’s likely to topple over right on top of your car.
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Despite all of our questions, the Flood Guard may be worth a second glance. While the Flood Guard might not protect your car from every bit of damage in a flood, it’s possible that it could save you from returning to a completely totaled vehicle — in which case it could be worth the $480 investment. According to Business Insider, half a million cars were flooded during Hurricane Harvey last year and while having Flood Guard wouldn’t have completely eliminated the risk of damage to those vehicles, it may have helped reduce the financial burden of having them repaired.
News Source: Business Insider
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