Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 19:25

"and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." — Genesis 19:25 (ASV)

Overthrew. —This does not mean submerged, and the agent in the destruction was fire and not water. “The plain” (Hebrew, the Ciccar) still existed, and when Abraham saw it, was wrapped in smoke.