Chrissy Eliashar and her family were asleep as dangerous floods began to invade their home in Jonestown, Texas. So Matthew Clauder jumped into action.
Flash floods in Texas killed 82 people and 41 remain missing
At least 82 people have been killed and 41 remained unsuccessful after a catastrophic flash flood in central Texas. The most intense hit area is Kerr County.
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When Matthew Clauder began working at Texas Paintball around 4am on July 5th, the flood had already begun to rise.
Relentless rain late Thursday and early Friday caused historic flash floods, wreaking havoc in central Texas, killing at least 80 people.
He noticed that the water was surrounding a nearby house, so Clauder was called 911.
The water swelled rapidly, and Crowder jumped into the action and screamed, yelling at anyone at home. Inside, Chrissy Eliashar’s son hears the fuss and wakes her up.
Eliashar soon gathered four children under the age of 12, gathered four dogs from the house and headed to the porch, helplessly watching the car floating. Crowder told her to try and escape the backyard.
“It had already become a lake,” she said. “And so I’m really panicking.”
Crowder, who was clung to a nearby chain link fence, became even more concerned as a storm cried out, nearby trees snapped and the house squealed eerie. He cried out to make a path towards him.
Eliashar and the children walked into the deep, fast-moving waters of their knees.
“My daughter actually fell, lost her shoes and almost lost her life,” she said. “My son grabbed her by the arm and picked her up.
“The worst feeling I’ve ever experienced.”
Crowder was also temporarily washed away by the flood, causing injuries to his back and ankle. However, he said he saw Eliashar’s child’s slippage at the most tragic moment of the whole ordeal.
“I thought that was what the kid was wiped out, like it was,” he said. “That was the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
Finally, Eliashar’s family was able to evacuate to their father’s pickup. Crowder pulled them out of the car one by one and took them to the neighbor’s yard.
Eliashar’s father, a 75-year-old Vietnamese veteran who lives in the property trailer, was also able to escape.
Eliashar said police had driven their families to the high altitudes and waited until friends took them. The next day she returned to find their home completely washed away from its foundation.
“It was completely destroyed,” she said. “The floor is buckled. It’s covered in mud. The water is located on the inside waist.”
“He really saved us.”
Still, Eliashar is grateful to be alive and acknowledges that Crowder made it possible.
“We are so grateful that he was able to scream, wake us up and be our guide to safety,” she said. “He really saved us.”
The disaster is devastating, but it brought out the best in the community, urging many friends, neighbors and strangers to take on the same kindness and courage, and Crowder helped clean the area on July 6th, so over $36,000 was raised by Gofundme for the Areachard family to be rebuilt.
“When these things happen to people, it makes them see how important they are to help people, and even the biggest or smallest way,” Crowder said.
