Strong storms caused flash flooding throughout the Chattanooga viewing area, leading to closed off streets.

And for some, their cars were submerged in the flood waters.

Charlie Pearman works at a business near Main Street, where some of the severe flooding happened, and says he struggled getting to work because of the high water level.

“It was like really high off the road, and my car, like, I had trouble driving through it," Pearman says. "I hydroplaned a few times."

Workers at Niedlov's Bakery had similar experiences.

Jennifer O'Neill says her coworkers at Niedlov’s had to move their cars to higher ground.

“This [Main] street was definitely flooded, but like all along the side of the building also was super deep," O'Neill says.

According to the Doppler radar, the rainfall in the area around Main Street Wednesday morning got up to about five inches.

We spoke to an expert about what you can do if this happens to you.

Al Bruhin from Blackwell Automotive says a running engine driving through water will likely cause more damage than a parked car sitting in water.

“Never expect the water to be as shallow as it might look," Bruhin says.

He says if your car has gone through high water, don't drive it and call for it to get towed to a local mechanic.

Bruhin says your car is at more at risk if the water is up to the door handles, and water up to the dashboard could cause serious internal damage.

He adds that if the car is running in that high of water then internal damage can happen almost immediately.

“It could be something that you're dealing with for the rest of the life of the car, and yes, it is very costly if the engine gets damaged from ingesting too much water," Bruhin says

Bruhin says the most important thing is don't drive it, have it towed, and tell a mechanic exactly what happened and they'll know what to do next.