I keep seeing videos of people coming home to a burst pipe or the neighbors above them having a flood. The water pours down from the ceiling and from the light fixtures (lights are on), but the people walking around the house don’t get electrocuted.
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To get shocked, you need a difference in potential, for electricity to flow anywhere. That’s why birds can sit on a high voltage line, because the wire is all at the same potential. They would need to reach their little foot over and touch the pole or a ground wire to get zapped.
A flood of water would probably be at the same potential as ground, since it’s in contact with pipes that go into the ground. If you were to touch a live wire, or any electrical connection that’s hot while standing in water, you could get zapped, same as if you’re standing on the ground and touch a live wire. But if the water itself contacts a live wire, the electricity will only flow to the easiest path to ground, and would probably blow a fuse if the resistance is low enough. But no matter what happens, the water is all at the same potential, so there’s no place for the electricity to flow.
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