There’s probably a piece missing in the article’s simplified explanation, but if corrosion were in fact “instant” as claimed, nothing should help, as the damage

There’s probably a piece missing in the article’s simplified explanation, but if corrosion were in fact “instant” as claimed, nothing should help, as the damage would already be done. Probably it’s not really instant, just very fast, and displacing the water with alcohol is the quickest way to get it out before it can do even more damage.