Farmer Drives His Chevy To The Levee For Real: Video
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In case you didn’t know, California is getting pummeled by storms right now, with wave after wave of severe weather bringing heavy rain and winds, resulting in mudslides and widespread flooding. A total of 34 counties are currently under a state of emergency. Things are so bad, desperate farmers in California’s central valley have taken to using their Chevy Silverado pickup truck to dam the rising waters, as seen in the following viral video.
Recently making the rounds on Twitter courtesy of user Cannon Michael (@agleader), the video shows a Chevy Silverado loaded up with mud in the bed. We see a man leaning into the cabin, the engine revving. As the man grabs the shifter, the Chevy Silverado drops into gear, the rear tires spinning for a moment before the mud-laden pickup lurches forward.
The man steps out of the way as the truck drives straight into the flood waters, making a big splash in the process. The camera moves forward, and we see the Chevy Silverado drift into a massive hole in the levee, coming to rest next to a Ford F-150 also laden with mud and nearly submerged by the flood waters.
“Stop right there, baby,” we hear someone say off-camera as the farmers watch the Chevy Silverado plug the breach.
I have never seen this type of #flood control measure before! Here is how some farmers deal with a breach in the Tulare Lake bottom. I assume they will pile some additional dirt on. #cawater #cawx #farm #agriculture pic.twitter.com/QXP720RqjJ
— Cannon Michael (@agleader) March 14, 2023
While it may seem extreme to sacrifice a pair of pickup trucks to plug up a hole in a levee, it makes sense when considering the orchard seen on the right of the two submerged pickup trucks. Indeed, a few old farm trucks can’t really compare when it comes to the value of all those crops.
Michael posted a follow-up photo showing that the plan actually worked:
For all of those haters and doubters – here is what it looks like now – trees protected as well as community nearby. #cawater #flood #cawx #desperatemeasures #agriculture pic.twitter.com/177rcdww7q
— Cannon Michael (@agleader) March 14, 2023
More storms are expected next week. Hopefully those affected will be able to manage the additional precipitation.
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I’ve seen a few trucks 3/4 of the way in the ground before. Quick thinking in a desperate situation. Thoughts out to those affected by this.
Don McLean would be proud
Good thing it is a private levee. Most of the farmland near the Missouri River where I live is protected from floods by levees built by the Army Corp of Engineers back in the ’70s. There is exactly a 0% chance the government levee districts would have approved using pickup trucks loaded with dirt as fill to temporarily patch a levee that’s been breached.
They weren’t looking for permission they are trying to save their land and that’s most important
When SHTF all policies and red tape from the Govt. means nothing. As it should.
Wow, that’s a nicer truck than I drive to work everyday!
That’s desperation, glad to see he put the F-150 in first.
Boomer59
That was a Chevy not a Ford
Read the article, states the Chevy went in next to the Ford already there.
The silver pickup with 4×4 on the bed is a 12th-generation F-150 (2009-2014).
Look at one of the pictures. One is a Ford.
The Ford couldn’t close the gap, Silverado saved the day.
Yeah the Toyotas and Nissans were busy getting groceries in San Fran.
So I’m taking a different way of looking at this. First, you just don’t mess with mother nature. I admire the reason for why they did what they did and I’m glad it actually worked. However, what a huge risk? The chances of that actually working were less to their favor and more to failure, so they just got very lucky. There’s just as much of a chance doing what they did would have backfired and caused a larger failure. And to top it off, they would have sacrificed 2 perfectly good trucks in the process.
I grew up on a farm and know that insurance is something farmers have. So I’m glad it worked, but would never condone what they did.
In times like that, one does not what-if things to death. One makes decisions. Period.
I see what you did there J Lo, to close to home?
I would never buy anything now going forward, whatever their crops were growing now that they have polluted the ground around the trees from oils and gasoline from the two trucks.
Guess they didn’t consider contaminating the crop with oil and gas. Thanks alot😡