If the power is still on in a house that is flooded and someone walks in the water, why/how are they not electrocuted?

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

The amount of power a outlet or panel can supply even when shorted and completely open is still limited. Electricity takes every path possible every time, however it prefers the least resistance path. So a lot more, most of it, will take the shortest, easiest route to the ground. It’s unlikely the water, then you, would be the easiest path. So well some is going through you, not enough to damage you. The water has resistance so it is an insulator and not a conductor in this case. Water with lots of ions can be a conductor, but otherwise it is a poor conductor.

If the source was some sorta power line, then the distance of water between you and it would need to be greater to be safe. There will also be a gradient, so it’s not like a wall where you die if you walk through. You will feel tingly first. Worst case you touch some submerged metal that is one of the main grounds and it arcs you.

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