by Gabrielle DeSantis

Hurricane Ida is taking its toll on the United States. New Orleans has suffered heavy damages from the catastrophic floods. The state of New Orleans changed a major parking law in anticipation of the disastrous hurricane. New Orleans temporarily removed a ban after considering the safety of its residents and their property.

New Orleans changes law to benefit drivers during Hurricane Ida flooding

Unfortunately, New Orleans is no stranger to natural disasters. Hurricane Katrina battered the state of New Orleans back in 2005. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes in recent U.S. history and had serious long-lasting implications for New Orleans citizens.

The state has made many changes since Hurricane Katrina. In preparation for Hurricane Ida, the state of New Orleans lifted a ban prohibiting citizens from parking on grassy medians. According to Car and Driver, this law was changed to save countless vehicles from flooding.

Allowing citizens to park on grassy medians gave citizens a way to avoid serious flood damages when possible. This isn’t New Orleans’ first rodeo. The ability to park on these common medians gave New Orleans citizens a better chance at minimizing damage under the trying circumstances.

Does parking on medians actually help with flooding?

The medians in New Orleans are several inches higher than street level. A few inches could sometimes make all the difference when dealing with floods. Medians may not have completely saved vehicles but it gave them a fighting chance against the elements.

The state of New Orleans has once again drawn the short straw. New Orleans is at least a few feet below sea level so natural disasters like Hurricane Ida can pummel the state. The situation in New Orleans is dire but its citizens are resilient. This law change is one of the many ways the state has shown an effort in trying to make the disaster as bearable as possible.

Does water damage or flooding mean a car is totaled?

Water damage can often mean the end of a car’s usefulness. Combustion engines as well as a vehicle’s electrical components do not mix well with excessive amounts of water. Any level of water past half of a vehicle’s wheelbase can be considered an emergency situation.

Some insurance policies do cover water damage in certain situations. The best thing to do is have a plan and prepare for disaster scenarios such as Hurricane Ida. Planning before a disaster occurs may seem like overkill but there are plenty of people with worthless cars wishing they had some coverage in this situation.

When it comes to flooding, avoid it like the plague if you plan on keeping your vehicle in good condition. When living in a state like New Orleans that is below sea level, have a plan for your vehicle in the event of an emergency. Hurricane Ida will not be the last major natural disaster in most of our lifetimes. We may not have the power to prevent disasters from occurring but we do have the resources to best prepare for certain events.

Water damage and flooding are every vehicle’s kryptonite. Vehicles like trucks and SUVs with more ground clearance are better prepared for flooding. Ultimately, when you live in a state like New Orleans, flooding is something you have to account for when choosing a vehicle.

RELATED: How To Prepare Your Car for a Hurricane

The post Hurricane Ida: New Orleans Changed the Law to Save Cars From Water Damage appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Is Iron Man out there flying around LA? Anyone got eyes on Robert Downey Jr.? Well, according to a commercial pilot, while flying into LAX, he saw something flying around LA airspace that looked like the Marvel superhero. Although we seem to be obsessed with the idea of flying cars, jetpacks seem to be taking off quicker. However, until Porsche makes a jetpack, car nerds will never fully care.

Was Iron Man seen flying around LA?

This isn’t the first time the Marvel world has attempted to collide with ours. After all, the 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor got some styling cues from Iron Man. Although it seems unlikely, the FBI took the report seriously enough to investigate. Of course, the FBI isn’t looking for Tony Stark, but there have been reports of people flying jetpacks in restricted airspace before.

The LA Times reported that the Boeing 747 pilot called in “a possible jetpack man insight” about a month ago, according to a recording from the website LiveATC.

As we can imagine, the pilot was confused at what he saw or thought he saw. The pilot claims that the thing resembling Iron Man must have been at least 15 miles away from LAX when he saw it. To make things even crazier, the pilot estimates Iron Man was somewhere around the 5,000-ft elevation mark. a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told the newspaper, “Out of an abundance of caution, air traffic controllers alerted other pilots in the vicinity.”

This isn’t the first time rouge jet packers have been spotted

When the flying man was spotted and reported, an air traffic controller said, “Use caution, the jetpack guy is back.” to alert the other pilots in the area. Another air traffic controller asked the pilot if he was reporting a “UFO.” 

As the air traffic controller’s response indicates, this “jetpack guy” has been seen before. At least, we are assuming there is only one. 

The LA Times reports that a video was released in December of 2020 showing what seemed to be a person flying a jetpack. The video was taken by passengers on an instructional flight out of the Torrance airport. Meanwhile, the FBI was already investigating two possible jetpack sightings near LAX from August and October of that year.

Can you buy a Jetpack? 

Although the sightings are from multiple credible pilots, Jetpack experts struggle to believe the claim’s validity. 

For one, these experts claim that getting a jetpack is pretty difficult. Not only are they extremely expensive, but they’re also just aren’t many of them around. Secondly, someone would struggle to fly to 5,000 ft with a jetpack due to the amount of fuel one would need for such a flight. 

While most of us have seen pretty impressive videos of jetpacks on the internet, this fuel thing is a pretty good point. 

We tend to see something like Iron Man on the TV and, after long enough, can forget what is actually possible. We aren’t arguing that the Iron Man imposter isn’t real, but jetpack technology doesn’t appear to be able to do what the pilot claims he saw. 

Of course, officials say that it is possible that the pilots misidentified a weather balloon or some other drifting object. They always have to ruin the fun with the ol’ weather balloon trick. Don’t they? 

RELATED: Flying Motorcycles Coming in 2023: The Next Big Thing?

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