When Christian Fell saw floodwater beginning to fill his home in Hunt, Texas, last Friday, it was already too late.
The Texan was one of hundreds forced to evacuate his home as flash floods swept through south central Texas, killing 120 people in the state, including 95 - as of Wednesday - in Kerr County where Mr Fell lives.
Mr Fell told the BBC that he tried to leave through his kitchen to get to his truck in the pitch black, but when he opened the door a "huge wall of water" came toward him.
"I tried closing the door, and I couldn't get that done because just how powerful the water was, and so I had to go back further into the house," he said.
Mr Fell found his furniture now floating in the water in his home and climbed over it, making it to his bedroom. There, he said, he spotted a window, swam through it and climbed on top of an outside meter box - where he stood for three hours.
