Devastating flooding destroyed the Eliashar family’s Jonestown, Texas, home as it swept across a central portion of the state days ago, but they escaped with their lives due to the quick thinking of a man nearby.
The death toll has since reached 104 statewide since flood waters rose and ravaged Texas Hill Country over the holiday weekend.
Matthew Crowder had arrived for a shift at Texas Paintball on Saturday, July 5, when he observed waters rising around the family’s home in the area, he told USA Today.
“In the early hours of the morning, the unthinkable happened. Without warning, floodwaters rushed into the Eliashar family’s home in Jonestown, rising to over six feet in minutes,” wrote Kim Polner, the organizer of a GoFundMe to support the family.
Soon, “everything went south, real quick,” Crowder told the newspaper. He began shouting to alert them, which eventually worked.
“At 4 a.m., my son Benny comes running and tells me, ‘Somebody is screaming outside and the dogs are barking,’ ” Eliashar told NBC affiliate KXAN. “And sure enough, we run to the front door, open it and there’s a person screaming for us to get out of the house. Our front yard was a rushing river.”
At the time, her husband was working a night shift and she was home alone with her three children, ages 7, 10, and 12, along with a 12-year-old family friend who was spending the night with them, according to Polner.
Crissy needed to move quickly to save everyone.
“Make sure everyone’s awake, get your head count, and let’s make a plan,” Crowder told her, according to KXAN.
Initially, the family tried to flee through the backyard, but “that had already become a lake,” Crissy told USA Today. “So then I’m really panicking.”
GoFundMe
Eventually, they had no choice but to enter the water to try to move closer to Crowder as he held tight to a fence, the outlet reported. At some point, he also managed to call 911.
“My daughter actually fell and lost her shoe and nearly lost her life,” Crissy said to the newspaper. “My son grabbed her arm and picked her up, and we were able to just keep walking just a few more paces.”
“That kid getting swept away, like genuinely, I thought that that was it,” Crowder told USA Today. “That was the worst feeling I think I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
For a moment, the waters knocked him over too, but he recovered and eventually helped bring them all to safety before authorities picked them up and drove them to higher ground, the outlet reported.
GoFundMe
“It’s kind of like the worst nightmare you’ve ever had, and just kind of realizing that in the moment is, is something that, if you haven’t gone through it, it’s really kind of hard to comprehend,” Crowder told KXAN.
Crissy’s 75-year-old father also survived the ordeal, according to Polner.
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Although everyone inside lived, including the dogs, the house itself was destroyed by the powerful flood.
“The family escaped with barely the clothes on their backs,” Polner wrote. “They did not have flood insurance. They are now starting over from absolutely nothing — no home, no belongings, no basic essentials.”
Still, Crissy is holding onto thankfulness for the man who went out of his way to rescue them all.
“I’m so grateful that he screamed and was able to wake us up and be that guide to safety for us,” she told USA Today of Crowder. “He really saved us.”
