It’s like seeing a demolition derby but with not junk cars!
If getting water in the engine didn’t destroy it, trying to restart the engine after it stalled most likely did. But if they were knowledgeable enough about not restarting it and leaving it in neutral until the spark plugs can be removed, they wouldn’t drive through the deep ford in the first place.
Maybe putting a machine that costs thousands through deep water isn’t a risk worth taking? But they would have to drive 4 miles to go around the ford …