A Fourth of July celebration at a family cottage turned into a nightmare as floodwaters surged into their home, forcing them to seek refuge in the attic.
HUNT, Texas — On what was supposed to be a joyful July 4th celebration at a beloved family cottage in the Hill Country, a family faced a nightmare. In the dark, early hours of the morning, floodwaters surged into “Casa del Rio”—a nearly 100-year-old stone cottage nestled along the Guadalupe River in Hunt. Inside, 94-year-old matriarch Betty Matteson and a group of relatives clung to survival.
For decades, Casa del Rio has been a sanctuary. Matteson has lived there full-time since the early 1980s. The family also rents out a smaller cottage next door as an Airbnb—hosting travelers who come to enjoy the river, giant cypress trees and quiet peace.
“We’ve had it since the 60s, and it was built in the 20s,” said Matteson’s grandson, Barry Adelman.
But this year’s Independence Day brought no fireworks or watermelon—only chaos. Around 4 a.m., a family friend sleeping on the lower level burst in with a warning.
“Threw open our door and said, ‘Hey, we’re flooded. We gotta get out!’” Adelman recalled.
Within minutes, water started silently pushing up through the floors.
“I saw probably the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Barry recalled. “The water coming up through the wooden floors in the cracks—silently and very quickly.”
The family raced Matteson and their dogs up to the attic. But even there, the water kept rising.
“We were scared to death because the water started coming up the stairs—which would be the third level,” Adelman said.
Outside, headlights pierced the rushing water. People were trapped in their cars, screaming as they floated downstream.
“We heard screams, screaming everywhere,” Adelman recalled. “Lightning cracking, cars crashing into the house.”
With the flood creeping higher, Adelman fashioned a rope from Christmas lights and tied it to the chimney, preparing for a rooftop escape. Then—something changed.
“[The water] dropped a foot. Then it dropped three feet. Then it kept going,” Adelman said.
In the attic, Matteson sat quietly in a chair—praying.
“There were probably 12 people in my attic, and there was water coming up the stairs,” she said. “Barry came by and said, ‘Nonee, do you want to pray?’ I said yes. So he prayed a beautiful prayer. Within five to ten minutes, the water began to recede.”
A short time later, they were able to move to the main floor.
Adelman’s cousin, Chase Wood, helped rescue two couples from the neighboring Airbnb. The couples had to dive underwater to reach the front door. They were sucked out into the current but managed to cling to the roof. Wood helped them down and brought them to Matteson’s attic, where they were given dry clothes.
Adelman says family also found a woman named Suzette Walker clinging to a cypress tree in the yard. She had escaped from her car through the sunroof after it got stuck in the floodwaters.
“She said, ‘My husband told me to grab anything I could to save myself,’” Adelman recalls of his conversation with Walker. “When I asked where her husband was, she replied: ‘I don’t know.'”
The family found shelter at the Methodist Church in Hunt until the National Guard arrived to help evacuate them.
“When we were getting her loaded up and she was getting up in the truck, I will tell you—she was pulling herself up!” Adelman said about his grandmother. “She is tough, tough, tough…Her father was a dairy farmer in La Grange and provided milk for Blue Bell Ice Cream.”
While the stone cottage remarkably withstood the flood—Adelman said—his grandmother’s only source of income is now gone. Flood insurance was out of reach. A visible flood line from the devastating 1987 flood still marks the stairwell inside the home—a stark reminder they never thought this flood would surpass.
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to help with repairs and rebuilding. It has already raised over $15,000.
“I think we’re looking at this like all things are possible,” Barry said. “She said this out loud: ‘I want to live here, and I want to die here.’”
For now, Matteson is staying with her children and is under the loving care of her family.
“Please pray for those left behind,” she added.