Family of 9 thought it was the end when Texas flood hit their home — a mind-blowing plan helped them escape

Their house was only a few feet away from the Guadalupe River and water was filling their house rapidly.

PUBLISHED 11 HOURS AGO

A house near a river. Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Chunyip Wong

Resourcefulness and faith might help people deal with challenging situations. These two things came in handy for a Texas family after their house near the Guadalupe River was filling up with water because of the floods in Texas. They didn't come to know about the severity of the situation until quite some time had passed and it seemed that there was no possible escape, but then the men in the family came up with a plan that ended up saving their lives, per KENS 5.

A house in a flooded area. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Jhorrocks

The family's house was only feet away from the Guadalupe River, so they didn't have much time to plan an escape as the water had started rushing into their house, per 83-year-old woman, Penny Deupree, who managed to escape the dire situation along with her family. "By the time I realized how much rain it was, it was already in my house. But I had eight people, two babies and two dogs. It just went south from there," Deupree recounted. They didn't have much time to make an escape plan at that moment. However, soon enough, the family came up with a plan to stay safe from the flood by going through their sleeping loft. They used whatever tools they could find at that time to make a hole in the loft.

A daughter sitting on her father's shoulders while they stand on the loft. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Westend61

The men of the family used lobster buoys to make that hole to ensure that all nine members of the family could get out of the ordeal alive. "A neighbor behind said she heard them banging," Deupree went on. Her son then used a pocket knife to make the hole large enough to make the escape possible. "They got the babies out first and the mommas together. And when it was my turn, I had a little trouble fitting into this extremely small hole. But one boy pulled and one boy pushed, so I was able to get out," Deupree pointed out. Eventually, all of them managed to get on the roof.

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Once they were there, they sang hymns to the babies and rocked them to calm them down and make them fall asleep. The floodwaters finally started receding after an hour and a half and all of them were safe. The family credited their faith for saving their lives. "We were saved by God. That's simple and easy," Deupree suggested. "I was very prudent about doing a prayer journal at some points during my life. And they were very helpful," she added. The family had gathered at Deupree's house in Hunt, Texas, to celebrate the Fourth of July, per their GoFundMe page. Deupree lost her house of more than 20 years that she had built with her late husband.

A house destroyed by floods. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Boy Anupong

Along with the house and her car, she also lost several family heirlooms and photo scrapbooks because of the flooding. So the family set up a GoFundMe page to help her and other members of the family who had been impacted by the floods. Any extra funds would be donated to the Kerr County Flood Relief by the family. They had managed to collect donations worth $86,356 out of their $150,000 goal at the time of writing and were grateful for all the support they had gotten from various sources.

If a disaster (natural or human‑caused) has left you distressed and you need help, please reach out to the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1‑800‑985‑5990 (call or text). samhsa.gov