An Irishman who has lived in Texas for 15 years has described seeing floodwaters "creep up" the steps to his house in Texas before he and his family were evacuated amid the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dubliner Seán O’Loughlin said the water was rising gradually all day on Sunday and "started on the far end of my street in the morning and by 7pm was all the way up to my doorstep, and then by midnight we had about two feet of water in the house".
Mr O'Loughlin, who lives with his wife and three children, said "We did think about toughing it out [and staying in the upper part of the house] until I saw the filthy dirty water and thought it really wasn’t worth taking a chance. We probably would have been fine, and actually now that I know the water is already going down we would have been fine, but I just didn’t want to take the risk."
He said authorities had warned people not to go into their attics, because people had become trapped by rising waters, adding that "if I was going to go into the attic I was supposed to bring an axe with me to get my way out of the attic and onto the roof so I could be rescued – and I didn’t fancy that".
Mr O’Loughlin said that seeing the waters rising seemed "pretty surreal", adding that "while I never really felt that my life was threatened, especially because the water hadn’t come up that high, but I was just really concerned for my kids".
He and his family are now staying with friends.
Mr O’Loughlin said that while the flooding is a major inconvenience, at least they are safe.
He paid tribute to the rescuers and volunteers who have helped people affected by the flooding.
