Bravery Amid Floods: Family Rescued After Hours of Peril

In a harrowing incident in Lakeland, Florida, a news crew from WFLA-TV came to the rescue of Amber Henry and her four children after they were trapped in their home for seven agonizing hours due to rising floodwaters. Following official guidance to shelter in place, Henry believed her family would be safe despite the severe weather conditions.

"I called officials, and they told me it wasn’t a mandatory evacuation. They assured me and my children would be fine, but that was far from the truth," Henry recounted during an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett.

As the floodwaters surged, the family found themselves homeless, with their car submerged and all their belongings lost. “I have nothing. My children and I were left with just the wet clothes on our backs,” she lamented, noting that essential documents like social security cards and birth certificates were among the items lost.

Henry's nightmare began around 10 p.m. when she noticed water seeping into their home. In a frantic attempt to manage the situation, she filled buckets with water, but soon realized the floodwaters were rising too quickly. "The house literally swallowed us with water," she described.

Videos shared with CNN showed the family desperately seeking higher ground, at one point balancing on the kitchen sink and oven as the water levels rose alarmingly. In a poignant moment, she prayed for help, exclaiming, “God, help us! The water is reaching the cabinets!”

As the situation grew more dire, the sound of a transformer blowing filled Henry with dread. “I feared for our lives. I just knew we were going to be electrocuted,” she recalled, tears streaming down her face. "I’m a single mom, and my biggest fear was that I would perish, leaving my kids to suffer."

In an act of desperation, when the refrigerator began to float, Henry broke into a neighbor’s home to find safety. She vividly remembered her 10-year-old daughter’s heartbreaking plea, “Mom, I don’t want to die before my birthday.”

Finally, in a moment of hope, Henry noticed someone outside. She opened a window and called for help, a decision that would ultimately lead to their rescue. “I’m so glad I opened that window; otherwise, they might have packed up and left,” she expressed gratefully.

Henry and her children’s ordeal serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of severe weather and the importance of heeding emergency advice. As they begin the difficult journey of rebuilding their lives, the community rallies around them, highlighting the power of hope and resilience in the face of disaster.

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