Two people are dead after heavy rain brought flooding to Kaufman County early Saturday morning.
The Kaufman Fire Department said crews responded to 14 water rescue calls in the last 12 hours.
Several families are left cleaning up and wondering where to go after waking up to homes filled with water.
In Christina Thomas’s home, there was a recovery mission underway after her husband woke her to evacuate around 7 a.m. when their house along F.M. 148 took on a foot of water.
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“He came out first and tried to get his truck out and was being kind of swept toward the creek by the current. I jumped in my truck and got out. We got our 16-month-old grandson, our two dogs, my husband and my son, and me, and that’s it with the clothes on our back,” said Thomas.
The mad rush to escape was an eerie reminder of a similar one seven years ago when Thomas said a reservoir behind their home gave way.
“It happened in 2016, and I believe 13 of our neighbors around the area experienced the flooding that we did. We basically lost everything that wasn’t four to six feet high in our home,” she said.
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This time, Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Howie said 26 homes were evacuated.
He said they believe six to 10 homes took on water.
Two people were killed when their cars were washed off the road.
“We were not expecting that amount of rain, so it caught us off guard a little bit, but we worked with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and they did a great job as well as Task Force 1 getting here very quickly to rescue those people,” said Howie.
Next week, he said they’ll begin damage assessments, and the American Red Cross will begin assisting those impacted.
Back on 148, Thomas said she knows all too well what comes next.
“It’s going to be devastating, picking up the pictures, seeing everything that’s been ruined that you can’t replace. My grandparents have both passed away in the last couple of years, and any keepsakes, I’m sure, are ruined,” she said.
With more rain on the way, Thomas worries it could be days before her family can truly begin cleaning up.
