The Dangers of Flooding Waters
By Randall C. Resch
Today, amid the Kentucky floods wreaking havoc on the eastern part of the state and claiming approximately 40 lives with more than one hundred missing, towers and other first responders need to be reminded of the dangers that lurk from mother nature’s indiscriminate acts of devastation.
A Few Stories...
In 1942, during the great flood that hit Northern Virginia and Maryland, John Elliott Buell, a tow owner and operator from Bethesda, MD, drowned trying to rescue a partially submerged and unoccupied car.
Buell was responding to frantic calls that a motorist was inside the vehicle. He waded into the water with tow cable in-hand. As he attached the cable, the water’s rage caused the car to spin. Buell was swept away, and his body was discovered the next day hundreds of feet downstream.
In August of 2021, Hurricane Ida hammered the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, causing extensive damage and overwhelming a dozen states combined. News surged with broadcasts showing cars submerged in swollen roadways and streams with cars whisked away by still moving floodwaters. Tow operators were shown wading through fast-moving water to hook-up casualty vehicles. At the midst of Ida, towers worked heroically in communities hit hardest by flooding, but I’m not so sure it was the safest of activities.
The following month, Sergeant Brian Mohl, a veteran, 26-year Connecticut State Trooper was killed when his police cruiser was swept away by floodwaters. Was there some threat or life-saving reason so great that required the trooper to enter dangerous waters?
Heed the Warnings
Clearly, there’s huge risk to health and safety entering rapid water as we are now witnessing in Kentucky. As a tower, it’s my opinion to let flood waters subside before recovering a car.
As an advocate for tow operator safety, I typically err on the side of safety knowing that many acts of fearlessness turn potentially deadly when things go wrong. For better than thirty-years, I have written about industry safety only to realize one, indisputable fact: towers often act without thinking of deadly consequences.
Perhaps some towers have not learned that tow trucks, despite their taller profile, are not submarines!
Therefore, carefully consider the potentially deadly consequences of wading or driving into swift and swollen waters. No job is worth dying for.


Dennie Ortiz x213