When a seventeen-year-old woke up one morning and got out of her bed, she stepped on a puddle of contaminated water and could hear rain droplets splashing on the water accumulated on the street. The girl had no one with her except her dog, and seeing water everywhere had made her panic.




What’s the thing you are scared of the most? For many people, the answer is natural disasters. Humans fear earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, storms, and similar natural phenomena because of their uncertainty and the extent to which they can cause damage.

The teen girl in today’s story was at home without an adult when a heavy downpour flooded her Kentucky house. She had to step out of her home to save her and her furry friend’s life, but all she could see was water when she opened the main door to leave her house.

A house immersed in floodwater.

WATER EVERYWHERE

July 28, 2022, is the day Chloe Adams will never forget. Early morning, the seventeen-year-old woke up to the sound of heavy rainfall, but when she stepped into her bathroom, she saw something that made her panic.

Water gushed out of the bathroom drains in her Whitesburg, Kentucky home and rose from the tiles on the kitchen floor. With no one except the family dog, Sandy, in the house, Adams had to do something to get out before it was too late. She recalled.

“There was water as far as I could see. I had a full-blown panic attack.”

Sandy has been Chloe’s best friend since she was a toddler. She couldn’t leave the dog alone and escape from her house, so she decided to take Sandy with her. However, she wasn’t sure where to go.

An aerial view of the flooding

UNANSWERED CALLS

The heavy rain had caused a flood that had destroyed many homes and taken at least 25 lives. Chloe lived with her grandparents, who were at her uncle’s house at that time, a few feet away from her home. They could see her when she opened the door to leave the house and kept telling her to stay indoors.

Chloe had called 911 for help multiple times, but it seemed like poor network coverage and an overwhelming number of calls from others didn’t allow her to connect with the first respondents. After waiting for some time, the teenager realized it was time for her to leave the house before the water rose to a deadly level. Chloe recounted.

“My next thought was that we needed to swim out to my uncle’s house.”

Damage caused by the flooding in Kentucky.

HER FURRY FRIEND

Since Chloe was sure she had to leave the house after the water level rose to her waist, she immersed Sandy in the water to check if she could swim. After knowing Sandy’s life depended on her, Chloe thought of a way to take Sandy with her.

She went back into the house and started looking for something that would float in the water. She tested multiple pieces of furniture before stumbling upon a plastic container that was spacious enough for Sandy to fit into. Then, she put the container on a sofa cushion to ensure her furry friend didn’t sink. She Said.

“I knew the dangers of trying to swim in deep and moving water, but I felt I had no choice.”

Sandy and Chloe.

SWIMMING TO STAY ALIVE

Keeping Sandy in front of her, Chloe swam in the rushing water, looking for a place where they would feel safe. Eventually, she saw the roof of a storage building and swam toward it. The slanting roof of the building was the only part that was still above the rising water level.

Once she reached the roof and sat on it, she saw her family members talking to her from the second floor of her uncle’s house. They said her cousin would soon come to rescue them in a kayak and kept talking to her, so she didn’t feel scared.

Chloe started crying once she was reunited with her grandparents. She felt it was impossible to make it out alive from the flood, and knowing that she did it along with Sandy made her feel overwhelmed. She said.

“My heart goes out to all the other people who lost and suffered so much more than I did in this horrific devastation.”

Chloe’s view from the rooftop

THE PROUD FATHER

After the terrifying incident, Chloe’s father, Terry Adams, took to Facebook to praise his daughter’s bravery. In his post, he revealed that Chloe “waited for hours” before being rescued. He called his daughter a “hero” for saving their dog’s life while hers was also at risk. Terry added.

“We lost everything today…everything except what matters most.”

Soon after Terry posted a photo of his daughter sitting on the almost-fully immersed stage building, people started sharing his post and flooded it with comments. Here are some of the comments posted by other Facebook users:

“This picture is heart-wrenching! I am so happy she is safe. Terry, I can’t imagine how this image would make a parent feel!”

“This is something that you never dreamed would happen! This will rip your heart out!! I’m glad she is safe!”

What would you do if you were in Chloe’s place? Would you save Sandy as she did? Do you think you can look for a solution as quickly as she did?




We stand with the people of Kentucky who have endured painful losses because of the tragic flooding caused by heavy rains.