American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom

This account was written by Shannon Hext, a Red Cross worker for the Wisconsin chapter.

The Howard family was cold and wet when they arrived at the Red Cross shelter, with only one thing on their minds—staying together.

Their wish was fulfilled at Glenn Hills Middle School, where they found cots, warm blankets and caring volunteers to provide shelter.

Just hours before, Nicole Howard and her seven kids had been enjoying the rain. They thought nothing of the few inches that covered the street outside, and a few of the kids even went out to play.

“When it started raining, we didn’t think it would get that bad. But things got worse fast,” Nicole remembers.

As the water rose in the street, so did Nicole’s concern. She called the kids in, and they started watching the water—first in their basement, then in the driveway. They started to measure the water by how high the level was on her sports utility vehicle parked outside.

“We just kept watching and it kept coming up,” she says. “I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do.”

When the water in the basement reached the top step of the basement steps, Nicole called her husband and asked him to come home. However, no matter what road he tried, he was unable to reach their stranded family through the flooded streets. Eventually, his car stalled from the water.

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