As Central Texas grapples with one in all its worst flooding disasters, which has claimed no less than 110 lives and left 170 folks lacking, acts of braveness shine by way of the darkness. Amongst them is Matthew Crowder, who rushed into the raging waters to rescue a sleeping household earlier than daybreak on July 4.
Crowder, a supervisor at Texas Paintball, stated he was headed to work round 3 a.m. native time when he seen the quickly rising floodwaters. That is when he noticed a home in peril, with folks nonetheless asleep inside.
“I began yelling to wake them up,” Crowder recalled to ABC Information. “The primary one to return out was the oldest son, Benny. He noticed his entrance yard develop into a raging river.”
A volunteer aids in search and rescue operations close to the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept by way of the world, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas.
Eli Hartman/AP
Regardless of emergency dispatchers advising the household to remain put, Crowder knew they wanted to evacuate instantly.
“The home was making noise, timber had been coming down, and water was speeding beneath the home,” he defined. “I informed dispatch, ‘Ship assist or not, I’ve work to do.'”
The rescue got here at a vital time. Simply hours earlier, at 1:14 a.m., officers had upgraded the flash flood watch to a warning for elements of Kerr County. By 4:03 a.m., they’d declared a flash flood emergency. The area would in the end obtain 15 inches of rain, greater than double what meteorologists had predicted.
Harm is seen subsequent to the Guadalupe River, July 8, 2025, after a flash flood swept by way of the world close to Ingram, Texas.
Ashley Landis/AP
For the household Crowder saved, he stated the losses are staggering.
“They misplaced the whole lot – their automobile, their home. After I noticed them yesterday, they had been working with no matter they may salvage in trash luggage,” Crowder stated.
Crowder stated he’s now volunteering across the neighborhood to assist households in want after the flood. He informed ABC information the neighborhood’s response has been overwhelming. Crowder’s office, one of many largest companies within the Dovestown space, has been flooded with provides of assist.
A GoFundMe marketing campaign for the rescued household is “doing nice,” in response to Crowder, and comparable tales of neighbors serving to neighbors proceed to emerge.
“It is actually nice to see folks stepping as much as assist others, each through the floods and after,” Crowder stated, talking from a cleanup website the place he continues to volunteer.
