In a story that I did a few months back, titled “Disaster Zones and Those Who Profit From Them” (in the Oct. 4th to 10th edition), I pointed out how unscrupulous people would take salvaged cars that have been submerged and re-sell them. This present story that I offer to you is yet another example of what can happen when electric vehicle batteries get compromised due to floods.
This case in point comes from a video that I recently watched titled “Port of Miami Explosion Update; New Details.” As an added help, the author’s title name is; “StacheD Training” (spelled just that way)! Now, a number of “EVs” (electric vehicles) that had come from the towns of Port Richey and Homosassa were loaded into a conex (overseas shipping container), destined for some probable third-world country. These cars were more than likely owned by Florida residents living close to the coast and had saltwater intrusion due to the hurricane’s aggressive storm surge. There are many categories of vehicles that are found going overseas in these containers and two of those are vehicles that have been in a flood scenario and those that have been stolen! Most of the containers that are used are 40-foot units and some shippers have figured out (with the help of specialized racks) how to fit four cars (at an angle) into a space normally made for two 20-foot vehicles. Now, an EV catching on fire out in the open on a street or roadway is difficult enough to extinguish; having four of them in a confined space is the ingredient for trouble. And then, if you combine that with the tightness of (most) of those units, you have an oversized bomb on your hands.
The video that covered this “happening” actually had some good information regarding the contents of the sea box.
One of the cars was a Tesla “Model – S,” and on the white-painted car (shown in the video), there was a water height mark highlighted with a yellow Sharpie-type pen. This item of interest alone was a “red flag” of danger that should have told the people loading it that it may likely be a fire hazard. If I am not mistaken, I have seen pictures of fire on a container hauling ship where the fire was not contained to a single container and spread to many of the other sea boxes surrounding it.
On that note, I am going to issue a friendly warning to those holiday shoppers wanting to buy a loved one an item that contains Lithium Phosphate batteries. This will especially apply to toys that may be ridden through puddles or left outside during a rain. There were just recently a few cases of homes being flooded and as the water reached the kids’ toys, they blew up and burned the houses down. (Talk about adding insult to a disaster!)
It is not my wish to put a big damper on your shopping or the Christmas season. I am just trying to bring awareness of what potential disasters can happen if items are not properly used and stored.
Now, on a different (but still similar) note, I just got word that the base camp up in the western North Carolina mountains (where I did some volunteer mission work) experienced its first occurrence of theft. Looking at their situation and then looking back closer to home (in our county), the realization of desperation comes to mind. This means that as people get tired of meager handouts and living in “sub-par conditions,” some will resort to making their life easier by way of taking what they did not “formally” ask for (or, in other words, STEALING)!
Along with these actions, “untruths” may be given to people trying to make a fair transaction (especially on vehicles)! This is yet another reason to make IMPORTANT DECISIONS when looking to buy that car “at a GREAT PRICE.” Most reputable mechanic shops will look a vehicle over for you, and most of them can tell (pretty fast) if a car has been in a flood (or accident) scenario.
I hope that this article helps someone (either at present or in the future). And you may not even consider this to be relevant to your lifestyle, so let me again offer you one of my most used sayings. NEVER SAY NEVER! Most of the people along the shoreline of our Florida west coast, as well as the majority of people living along the once tranquil rivers and creeks of the mountainous region to our north, NEVER thought that this could or would happen to them.
And this is yet another reason that I bring you good folk my stories and experiences. It may not have affected you this time around, but tomorrow (and those future monsoon seasons) are just right around the corner.
It is my hope and prayer that each and every one of you has a Happy New Year!
Steve Goodwin is a recently retired Christian conservative veteran (of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division), who still feels that “duty to country” did not end when the military uniform got hung up. He and his wife Cecelia live on the edge of a beautifully wooded tract of land just south of the bypass, and are involved in not only church activities, but also attend school board meetings and local community action events as well.
