Santo flooded overnight, residents rescued amidst second disaster in 3 weeks

Residents rescued amidst flooding in Santo, Texas

Overnight flash floods in Santo, Palo Pinto County, prompted the rescue of ten uninjured residents from their homes, leaving behind significant damage as the community grapples with a second natural disaster in weeks.

PALO PINTO COUNTY, Texas - 911 calls started coming in just before midnight last night from people trapped in their homes in Palo Pinto County. 

Fire and rescue crews arrived and heard people yelling for help as the crews brought in a special engine to drive through the high water.

What we know:

Search and rescue crews tied a rope to some homes and helped people to safety. When firefighters first arrived, a rushing current was outside a gas station in the center of the Palo Pinto County town of Santo.

A surveillance video from the convenience store shows the parking lot underwater. The inside of the store was completely flooded with an ice chest seen floating down one of the aisles.

Ten people on two different streets in Santo were rescued from their homes. 

First responders told FOX 4 no one was injured but the main task on Thursday for homeowners in Santo was drying out and cleaning up.

Local perspective:

Family rescued

A family in the Palo Pinto County town of Santo was rescued from torrential rain that caused her family's property and street to flood on Wednesday night.

Ashley Kidwilder, her husband and her three kids made it inside a fire engine, which brought them to higher ground as some places saw four feet of water, according to Palo Pinto County emergency officials. 

"I’m going to be honest. I freaked out because I didn't know what to do," said Kidwilder. "They made sure that even the kids knew ‘this is rushing, please hold onto the rope.’ I mean it was just like a river it was just flowing. You could see it."

What they're saying:

Deputy fire chief of Santos Fire and EMS, Kent Farquhar, described just how bad the conditions were on Wednesday night.

"When I say rushing water, it was probably moving 10–25 miles per hour minimum," said Farquhar. "When I saw the magnitude of the amount of water, that concerned me. I knew the creek overflown and the businesses were in line of fire and homes."

What's next:

Kidwilder tells FOX 4’s Peyton Yager that some of her goats did not survive, but her dogs did survive. 

They were on her porch when she got back home this morning. Her family was still recovering from the tornado that hit Palo Pinto County three weeks ago, and now they are trying to bounce back once again.