A serpentine belt is called that because it goes around so many things under the hood. It's like a snake. Power steering would stop. No water pump to cool down the engine, so the temp light would come on. The engine light would come on due to the alternator not getting charged.
If there's any spilled oil under the hood (dirty engine), it would smoke like crazy.
I’ve made a hobby of breaking and fixing my cars...so I know what a serpentine belt is. I still don’t think ann overheated engine would smoke enough to annoy other drivers....I think he blew a hose. And at first I thought he said there were dash lights on...but if you re-read it he’s talking about turning on his flashers. So no alternator light either.