Twitter/@EricaJoy(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Passengers on a public transit bus in Oakland, California, were up to their ankles in water after a driver plowed through a flooded intersection on Thursday.
The Bay Area has been deluged by record rains this week, causing streets to flood around the region. But one driver’s decision to risk the rising waters has him in trouble with his bosses.
A rider shared video of an AC Transit bus plowing through water several feet deep near the Port of Oakland. The water was higher than the bus’s tires and immediately flooded the interior of the vehicle. Riders can be seen lifting their feet to avoid the rising water.
Erica Joy, who filmed the video, can be heard saying, “That’s wild,” after the bus reached the other side.
Driving through standing water is against AC Transit policy and is part of the company’s training program, officials said.
“No operator with AC Transit is ever instructed to drive through standing water. That is absolutely against all procedure and protocol as well as their nine-week training,” AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles told San Francisco ABC station KGO-TV.
Lyles said an investigation is underway and the driver could face disciplinary action.
“We don’t expect a bus to drive through standing water and we don’t expect riders to be on buses that are going through standing water,” Lyles said.
The intersection was later closed, though in the interim KGO filmed dozens of cars and trucks driving through the water. A BMW stalled in the deep water before being pushed out by a semitrailer.
San Francisco received a daily record of 2.5 inches of rain on Wednesday, while Oakland saw 1.46 inches. Oakland saw another 0.89 inches of rain on Thursday. Venado, which is about 90 minutes north of San Francisco, received over a foot of rain in the past two days.
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