Be careful out there...you dont know what's in a puddle

I was a passenger in my colleague's Mercedes when we waded through a flooded road much like that, just south of Birmingham. There was a little car stuck at the side about three quarters of the way through, (complete with distressed damsel on mobile, hair awry, arms waving - you get the picture), and as we drove slowly in I suddenly spotted a small area of swirling water just ahead of us. I got as far as opening my mouth to say, "Better steer around that patch - it could be an open manhole where the cover has blown off" just as the front wheel dropped sharply down into said manhole. The car grounded out, lots of nasty scraping noises, but ultimately we got away with it because the car had quite large wheels which virtually bridged the hole edges. Unlike the D.D.'s Corsa, where the front suspension had been torn off, the front valance and bumper bent back, and of course her wheel was bent significantly too and unable to hold air in the tyre.

When we drove back, someone had thoughtfully poked a stick into the manhole and balanced a box on top so that it resembled the fauna in Alex's photograph.

Oh, and lest anyone assail me for failing to stop and render assistance to the D.D. I should add that a Nice Man in a yellow uniform from Alcoholics Anonymous was already doing just that.

ps. Could I ask for a Shark smiley to be included if we get much more of this rain?