A teenage girl has revealed that she ‘prepared for death’ as her home filled with deadly floodwater and she was forced to escape to a rooftop with her dog Sandy in Kentucky.
Quick-thinking Chloe Adams, 17, put her dog in a plastic container that could float before swimming to her neighbor’s roof, where she waited five hours to be rescued amid the calamitous flash floods in Lexington, Kentucky.
Kentucky’s catastrophic downpours, which have so far killed 37 people, obliterated entire towns and submerged houses in deadly flood water last week, as emergency services still try to desperately find missing people.
Chloe’s family, like hundreds of Kentuckians, lost everything in the fatal flood – and the 17-year-old said her priority was saving herself and her beloved mixed breed dog Sandy.
In an image posted online by her father, brave Chloe was seen sitting on the peak of a rooftop, soaked through, and completely encircled by unprecedented floodwater.
She sat on the summit with her pup in the torrential rain for five hours before being saved on Thursday during Kentucky’s most deadly flood in history.
Speaking about the horrific ordeal, Chloe told DailyMail.com: ‘When I realized I had to get out I instantly began to put a plan together to get me and my dog out safely.
‘I tested to see if Sandy would be able to swim and when she couldn’t I looked for floating objects that would safely get her across.
‘I first tried her dog bed and that quickly sunk, so then I tried a plastic container but she was too heavy for that, then I found a couch cushion and put the plastic container on top allowing her to get across the waters safely.’
SHE’S A HERO: Chloe Terry, 17, is pictured sitting on her neighbor’s rooftop with her dog Sandy, curled up in a plastic container, after the horrific flooding destroyed her home and she was forced to wait five hours to be rescued last Thursday
Chloe said she ‘prepared herself for death’ in the moments she realized she had to evacuate her home and swim to a neighboring roof to safety. She has been hailed a hero for her brave actions, while the death toll in Kentucky rises to 37
Despite knowing the dangers of swimming in moving water, Chloe said she felt she had no choice. After wading through waist-deep water to get the plastic container, she quickly swam through the deluge and got the pair to the rooftop.
She added: ‘Of course all this was very scary and stressful, just I knew I needed to focus on getting out instead of panicking. It was sink or swim.
‘What was going through my head was that I needed to save my dog Sandy. I was not leaving her behind, so that whole time I was just thinking of a plan.
‘And sadly at some points during this traumatic experience, I was also trying to prepare for death because I didn’t think Sandy and I were going to make it out.’
The brave 17-year-old, who had been separated from her grandparents in the cold rushing water, had to swim from her sliding deck door to her neighbor’s rooftop – which was one of the only structures not yet submerged in water.
She and her father were finally reunited after being rescued by her cousin in a kayak five hours later, and she was taken to her grandmother’s home.
The family’s belongings were obliterated by the intense downpours – but dad Terry said that they still have ‘what matters most.’
Chloe continued: ‘I had to swim from my sliding door deck to my neighbor’s garage building roof.
‘I’m currently staying at my grandmothers house until further notice. My dad and I lost our home.’
Chloe’s father Terry Adams wrote on social media: ‘My daughter is safe and whole tonight. She saved her dog by putting her in a container that would float and then swam with her to a neighboring rooftop.
‘She waited hours until she could be rescued. She is a hero. I love you Chloe. You are simply amazing. We lost everything today…everything except what matters most.’
The family have started a GoFundMe page after their lives were devastated by the flooding in eastern Kentucky.
Chloe, pictured with Sandy when she was younger in happier times. Despite knowing the dangers of swimming in moving water, Chloe said she felt she had no choice. After wading through waist-deep water to get the plastic container, she quickly swam and got the pair to the rooftop
KENTUCKY: An aerial view of a car on a road submerged under flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky, on July 28
DESTRUCTION: A car is submerged in flood waters along Right Beaver Creek, following a day of heavy rain in in Garrett, Kentucky
‘MULTIPLE FAMILIES WILL BE LOST’: Lewis Ritchie, pulls a kayak through the water after delivering groceries to his father-in-law on July 28 outside Jackson, Kentucky
This comes as the death toll hit 37 in Kentucky, with hundreds of people displaced and temporarily housed and thousands still without power.
Gov Bashear said that the number of fatalities is expected to increase Tuesday after telling a press conference: ‘I know we found more bodies overnight and this number will grow.’
He updated the nation this morning since the state is set to be hit with another intense weather front in the coming days – scorching temperatures.
After days of catastrophic rainfall, he said: ‘It’s going to be really hot, and really dangerous.’
Kentucky are now having to set up cooling centers because the state is bracing for high temperatures this week – fearing that there may not be enough drinking water available.
So far, Kentucky Police have provided over 1,000 wellness checks for missing people desperately try and locate lost friends and family in the hardest-hit areas.
Dramatic drone footage over Hindman, one of the hardest hit cities in eastern Kentucky, showed several homes and buildings almost completely submerged by the flooding, with only their rooftops of some visible.
Last week, homes with families inside were ‘completely swept away in the middle of the night, possibly while they were sleeping,’ in the violent mega storms that have plagued the state.
Raging thunderstorms pummeled the area, causing mudslides and ‘years’ worth of damage in what has been Kentucky’s most devastating flood in history.
Waterlocked, saturated ground continued to swell on Friday while rivers and creeks burst their banks with additional downpours over the weekend.
It will take the hundreds of people whose homes have been submerged in the dire flooding years to rebuild and recover from this cataclysmic disaster, Beshear said on Friday.
Devastating images show the catastrophic destruction the flooding has caused, with vehicles floating through streets which now resemble rivers and lakes.
KENTUCKY: An abandoned pick-up truck is seen submerged under flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky
DEADLY STORM: A house is seen half submerged by flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky. The death toll, which is expected to continue rising, has now reached 19
RESCUE MISSION: A group of stranded people are rescued from the flood waters of the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky
Homes and businesses were submerged up to their rooves in the unrelenting deadly torrent.
Residents were forced to climb trees and scramble to rooftops to look for safety as many locations in eastern Kentucky exceeded 10 inches of rain in 24 hours.
The Governor declared a state of emergency in six counties on Thursday morning.
Rain water was as high as the leaves of nearby trees and power poles were sticking up from greenish brown water, images from the destruction showed.
On Friday, it was revealed that four young siblings drowned in Kentucky’s disastrous flash floods after being swept from their mother’s arms.
Brittany Trejo said that her four young cousins – who were aged eight, six, four, and one and a half – were killed in the catastrophic floods.
The bodies of all four children had been recovered from the Knott County community of Montgomery, devastated Trejo said, who is the cousin of the children’s mom.
The children’s parents Amber Smith and Riley Noble live in Montgomery, and their home began filling with water on Thursday before the family-of-six were washed off of their roof with a big tide.
They were holding on to a tree for hours – before another tide washed them all away and the parents lost sight of their children.
Trejo revealed: ‘They got on the roof and the entire underneath washed out with them and the children. They managed to get to a tree and held the children a few hours before a big tide came and wash them all away at the same time. The mother and father was stranded in the tree for 8 hours before anyone got there to help.’
Little Riley Jr., six, and Nevaeh Noble, four, were found dead yesterday – and the bodies of Maddison Noble, eight, and Chance Noble, one and a half, were found Friday morning, Trejo said.
TRAGIC SIBLINGS: From left to right – Maddison Noble, eight, Nevaeh Noble, four, Riley Jr., six, and Chance Noble, one and a half, all drowned in the Kentucky floods, according to their mother’s cousin
If you have been caught up in the flooding in Kentucky, here are the missing persons numbers to call to report families and friends (picture from Gov Bashear)