And, about that 'driving over flooded roads'…
Way back in 1981 (IIRC) there was major flooding on the Klickitat river on Christmas day. I was actually living near the river at the time and, though the water came nearly up to the house we had no other problems.
At the time I was a lay member of the local fire department. Called out only when they needed extra hands, but not given much in the way of training. The day after Christmas I was called out for a 'Search and Rescue' mission.
[contd]