The family had little time to think of a way out. They started using lobster buoys and a pocketknife to make a hole in the sleeping loft to escape.
HUNT, Texas — With only being feet away from the Guadalupe River the family had to act fast. By the time 83-year-old Penny Deupree realized how much rain covered the area in Hunt, water was rushing into her home.
The family got resourceful using anything they could find to make a hole in the sleeping loft.
“By the time I realized how much rain it was,” Deupree said. “It was already in my house. But I had eight people, two babies and two dogs. It just went south from there.”
They had little time to think of a way out. The men in the home started using lobster buoys to make a hole in the sleeping loft.
“A neighbor behind said she heard them banging,” Deupree said.
Deupree’s son pulled out a pocketknife to make the hole larger. In hopes of getting all nine family members out – alive.
“They got the babies out first and mommas together,” she said. “And when it was my turn I had a little trouble fitting in this extremely small hole. But one boy pulled and one boy pushed so I was able to get out.”
When the family was on the roof, they rocked the babies to sleep singing hymns. Just as quickly as the flood waters crept up, they receded after an hour and a half. What remained intact and didn’t waver in those waters – was the family’s faith.
“We were saved by God,” Deupree said. “That simple and easy.”
What washed up in the mounds of debris was a physical reminder to keep their conviction in their belief.
“I was very prudent about doing a prayer journal at some points during my life,” she said. “And they were very helpful.”
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