Venturing out in a storm after a long day of teaching at his first job at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary North, Tim Harig, social studies teacher, did not expect to be caught in a flash flood while driving his favorite car, barely escaping with his life.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted a Carmen Ghia because it’s the car Maxwell Smart drove in Get Smart,” Harig said. “I was very proud of it. It had a stickshift but no clutch so you literally shifted without doing the clutch.”

Harig said the day his incident occurred he was exhausted after his day. The weather had turned stormy, yet Harig decided to venture home in his prized red Ghia.

Harig has poor eyesight, so as he pulled out of the parking lot he thought he saw a shiny street in front of him. However, where he had anticipated a street there was water. Not just a puddle of water, but a flash flood.

“I put it into reverse and tried to go backward, but water is very powerful,” Harig said. “What happened was I couldn’t go in reverse, and I [was] being pulled toward the drain.”

Harig tried to open his car door, but the water pressure prevented him from escaping. Next, he attempted to crawl through his window, but he pulled off the door knob. When he tried to open his window, Harig cut himself on an exposed screw.

“I’m thinking, ‘I’m wet, this is bad,’” Harig said. “I’m not thinking, ‘I’m going to die’ until the water starts seeping through [holes in] the floor.”

Harig said because of the holes in his floorboard, the water level in his car was able to rise quickly.

“Now [water] was covering the speakers on the doors and there was this satanic sound of music underwater,” Harig said. “I’m wet, I’m bleeding, it sounds like Satan is whispering or screaming in my ear.”

Harig reached over to the passenger window. He carefully opened the window, trying not to pull off the knob.

Harig successfully opened the window just as the water level reached his chest. As he slid out of the car, Harig hung onto the outside of the car, as it was sucked toward the sewer drain. When he let go of the car, he saw a grassy area behind.

“Luckily in those days I was in good shape and took three steps and made it to a small tree that I could grab,” Harig said. “If that tree wasn’t there I might’ve had some problems. I should go back and visit that tree.”

Although he was out of the car, Harig was now concerned about the lightning occurring.

Harig ran back into the lobby of his school he found another surprise.

“I didn’t know that about 30-50 students and faculty were watching, and when I came in [the lobby] there was riotous applause and laughter,” Harig said. “As fast as I could I went into the faculty bathroom and some folks had brought me student gym clothes. I looked like an idiot.”

Harig said the memory is now a humorous one because he feels like he cheated death. However, Harig’s opinion of flash floods has changed. Now whenever there is a storm, Harig said he will always wait it out.

“If I had waited 15 minutes for the storm to pass, I could’ve taken a nap and had my Carmen Ghia,” Harig said.