NORFOLK, Va. — “Turn around, don’t drown.”

It’s a phrase we’ve all heard before, but AAA officials say there are serious reasons behind the warning.

“You have no idea how deep that water is, so it’s best to just avoid it altogether and find yourself a different route home,” said Ryan Adcock with AAA.

Following this weekend’s severe storms and tidal flooding, AAA is warning drivers that standing water on roads can be far more dangerous — and more damaging — than it appears.

According to the National Weather Service, flooding causes more deaths in the U.S. than any other storm-related hazard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into floodwaters.

Adcock says it doesn’t take much to put a car,

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