Floodwaters Move Box Truck Off Road In Merrifield

MERRIFIELD, VA—There's a reason you'll see the warning "turn around, don't down" from officials when flooding occurs. Just a foot of moving water can carry away a small car, while two feet of moving water can carry away most vehicles. An incident involving a box truck in Merrifield Monday morning exemplified what floodwaters can do to even larger vehicles.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue shared a photo of a box truck stuck in floodwaters on Arlington Boulevard near Prosperity Avenue. Crews responded around 9:43 a.m. to rescue the driver. The floodwaters reportedly moved the truck off the road and almost caused it to overturn.

No injuries were reported.

As of noon, the fire department responded to 55 calls for swift water rescues in Fairfax County. The flooding followed heavy rain within a short amount of time. Fairfax County was previously under a flash flood warning, with officials warning residents to hold off travel until conditions improved.

The NWS issued a flood warning through 6 p.m. Monday to replace the flash flood warning. "Although the threat of rapid rise life threatening flooding is diminishing, some flooding is likely to continue for the rest of the afternoon," the NWS report states.