Members of the Youngblood family reunited with their dogs
When floodwaters rose to chest high depths at Kim Youngblood's house in Dickinson, Texas yesterday she began to panic. "It was so scary. The entire city is underwater," said Youngblood.
Youngblood was at home with her 15-year-old son, her two Boxer mixes, two guinea pigs and goldfish. Her husband was stranded on the other side of Houston soon after Hurricane Harvey dropped records amounts of rain on the area. "All the streets and highways are flooded. My husband could not get through to come home. He could not get back to help us," said Youngblood.
Scared to death, Youngblood all of a sudden heard firefighters outside their house. She raced out and asked them for help. "We tried bringing the dogs but the current was too strong. We had to walk with the firefighters in shoulder high water, they didn't have a boat," said Youngblood. "They told us bringing the dogs back inside was the best thing to do."
Youngblood put the dogs, Ivan and Ava, on top of a bed, and moved the guinea pigs and goldfish on top of high furniture. "We are devastated and need some help rescuing them, " said Youngblood. "We left in a panic and looking back there was probably something we could have done, but I was concerned about my child," s
Youngblood's backyard and home
The next day Youngblood's husband drove as close as he could to their home, parked his truck, got out a kayak and started paddling.
He got as close as he could and then swam the rest of the way to the house. When he got in, he found the two dogs right on the bed waiting for him!
Youngblood's husband could not get the guinea pigs and fish out, but a woman who heard about the situation canoed over to the home and rescued the rest of the animals.
The Youngblood family is so appreciative of everyone's efforts and outreach. "We've had an amazing response of people that we've never met that want to help us with clothes, dog supplies, whatever we need. I just can't believe how horrible this has been and how truly kind people can be in a time of need," said Youngblood.
