News

Irishman shares incredible footage of his family’s escape from Texas flood as he recalls “surreal” evacuation

AN IRISHMAN living in Houston has recalled seeing floodwaters “creep up” the steps of his home before his family were evacuated amid the destruction of Hurricane Harvey.

The death toll from the “unprecedented” flooding in Texas reached 30 on Wednesday morning after storm made a second landfall.

Dublin-born Seán O’Loughlin said the water "started on the far end of my street on Sunday morning and by 7pm was all the way up to my doorstep, and then by midnight we had about two feet of water in the house".

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Loughlin said he, his wife and their three children had initially hoped to remain in their home before it became inundated with water in a “surreal” evening.

“We did think about toughing it out [and staying in the upper part of the house] until I saw the filthy dirty water and thought it really wasn’t worth taking a chance,” he said.

“We probably would have been fine, and actually now that I know the water is already going down we would have been fine, but I just didn’t want to take the risk."

O’Loughlin said authorities had warned people not to go up into their attics because people had become trapped by rising water by doing so.

He added: "If I was going to go into the attic I was supposed to bring an axe with me to get my way out of the attic and onto the roof so I could be rescued – and I didn’t fancy that.”

“While I never really felt that my life was threatened, especially because the water hadn’t come up that high, but I was just really concerned for my kids".

Mr O’Loughlin and his family are now staying with friends out of harm’s way, where the children’s spirits have been lifted by a zip wire in the garden.

After the escape, he shared daunting video footage of his family’s escape (thankfully alongside the family dog) by boat through entire streets submerged by floodwater.

O'Loughlin said the event still feels "pretty surreal" and praised emergency services for their response to the natural disaster.