AccuWeather's Ali Reid speaks with Lorena Guillen who shared her story of the horrific sights she witnessed at the flooded Guadalupe River and how she tried to evacuate as many people as possible.
00:00Recovery efforts are ongoing and many families are just beginning to grasp the full scope of the damage.
00:06Our Allie Reed has been on the ground speaking to those impacts.
00:09She joins us live with more this morning.
00:12Allie, by the way, I do have to tell you your story that you told us the last time you were with us
00:17will be one of my lasting memories, unfortunately, here at AccuWeather.
00:21And I've been working here for 35 years.
00:23I never heard a story like that.
00:25But that's why you're down there to let people know what's going on.
00:30And, Bernie, to your point, you know, it's so interesting to really get a grasp of what is happening here.
00:38Because even if you drive around town, for the most part, as even Lorena, I know that you can understand this, too.
00:44It is like business as usual around here.
00:47But when you get close to the Guadalupe River, where we are this morning and live behind us here,
00:53it just goes to show you the sheer impact, the magnitude that this flood had on this community.
00:59Lorena, we shared part of your story earlier this morning.
01:03What you did for the folks here in this community, I know that you're being very humble.
01:08You are a hero.
01:09No.
01:10No.
01:11You saved so many families.
01:13What I want to share with you, Lorena had gone in the very early hours of the morning,
01:17knocking on neighbors' doors to let them know this flood was coming and to get to higher ground.
01:22Can you walk me through what happened in those moments?
01:26Yeah.
01:26I mean, when we saw the rescue lights, my husband and I just ran down to the RV park right here.
01:34And we just, my husband went into the water and I lost sight of him at that point.
01:39But I went from RV to RV knocking on doors of the ones I could because half of them were already floating away.
01:48And I started screaming at people, get out, get out, and go to the restaurant which sits on higher ground.
01:55And I remember seeing one of my residents, John, walking barefooted with just his underwear on.
02:04And same thing as Nick, they were trying to just get out.
02:09And describe the scenario to me.
02:11I think what was striking yesterday is that you had shared that just standing in this area,
02:17you could see cars and literally homes floating through the river.
02:22What did you hear as those things were passing?
02:25We, all I could hear was the screams.
02:30Screams.
02:31I mean, those horrific, long screams.
02:35And then for a few seconds there was nothing.
02:38And then another one, and another one, and another one.
02:41I mean, nonstop.
02:42You could see the vehicles floating away with the lights on.
02:45And you could hear honking.
02:47So you know there was people inside.
02:49And then you could see the cabins from next door getting smashed against the trees as well.
02:56You see all the scars up on the trees.
02:58And you could hear the screams.
03:01And then the cabins will get destroyed and the scream will stop.
03:05And Lorena, you had mentioned to me that in times of brightness, even though it was very, very still dark, very early in the morning still,
03:12The other thing that you mentioned to me that I found incredibly difficult to hear is that you could look out and see the hands of people inside of their homes floating through the river, grasping and calling out for help.
03:26Yes, especially when lighting hit, you could see these RVs floating, these big, beautiful, modern homes just floating away.
03:34And you can see people banging on the windows.
03:37The other thing you shared with me, again, the story we talked about earlier, there was a family of five.
03:43You and your family did everything possible to help them.
03:48Yeah, I mean, my husband got in the water because he saw the father walking towards us.
03:53Holding his two babies.
03:54Holding his two babies and the rescue team was trying to get in the water to save them.
04:00But they, I mean, they tried frantic and they just couldn't get into the water on time before that wave came in and it took them away.
04:12Knowing that that happened to you, how do you move forward?
04:17I mean, that is something that most people watching at home, you know, there is.
04:22Because we hear about this severe weather all the time, right?
04:25This happens all over the country.
04:27But a scenario like this is so far and few between.
04:29It does not happen to many people.
04:32How do you move forward, Lorena?
04:35I don't know yet.
04:37All I can do right now, my husband and I can do is just keep on cleaning, keep on fixing, keep on, you know, meeting with my customers, meeting with my friends at the restaurant where we're gathering.
04:54And, you know, holding each other, hugging each other, just that sense of community, that sense of love that we all have for each other that's making it a little better.
05:07And one more story I'd like to share, Julian, your employee, lost his life fighting for his family.
05:14I want to bring his picture up on the screen.
05:16Talk to me about that.
05:18Julian, he was one of the sweetest, polite, well-mannered kid.
05:24Everything was yes ma'am, no ma'am.
05:26He was good at his job.
05:28He was fast.
05:29An amazing person.
05:31He was a great father.
05:32I mean, one of his babies is still breastfeeding.
05:35He died a hero.
05:37He did.
05:38That is a true hero.
05:40Somebody that died for his family.
05:43Can you explain to me what happened in that scenario?
05:46His house was flooding, so he broke a window to get everybody out through the window.
05:52And in the process, he cut an artery of his arm.
05:55And he saved his family.
05:58But in the process, he bled out.
06:00He's a hero.
06:01He is.
06:02He is one of our heroes, yes.
06:06I have no words, Lorena.
06:08We only have a few seconds left.
06:10What do you want people to know about this community?
06:14This is an amazing community.
06:17I mean, people have put their lives on hold, spend their own money to be here to rescue.
06:24Yesterday, some of the rescuers, friend of mine, were here, and they were all hugging and crying.
06:33Lorena, this won't be the last time we share your story.
