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A Dark-of-Night Flood Escape at the River Inn in Texas

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The screams were coming from outside, through the dark and the din of the thunderstorm. People along the overflowing Guadalupe River were desperate, scared for their lives.

The rain had been coming down hard, into the grim early hours of July 4, but it was the lightning and thunder that kept people awake. The electric sky lit up the landscape like a strobe light, providing glimpses of what was happening and adding a surreal effect to the night.

In a flash, the manager of an inn saw the river where he had never imagined it could reach. A family saw into the house next door, where furniture floated in the living room.

What is happening? Room to room, house to house, minds tried to make sense of the water rising all around. A woman in bed saw animals run past her window, not realizing that they were logs and debris being carried by a river that had climbed 30 feet in the dark. A woman told neighbors that she awoke in bed to discover her two dogs swimming toward her. People awoke to strangers banging on their doors.