St. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Early Tuesday morning, Heather Thiele was sleeping in her basement when she was awakened by an emergency alert around 3 a.m.
“All of a sudden my bedroom window above my bed broke and water started coming in and I ran to my daughter’s room because we’re both in the basement,” she says.
His home rests on Belleau Creek Road near Belleau Lake Drive.
With a lake in the background, the water was overwhelmed with nearly a foot of rain.
Thiele’s grandmother has owned the house for decades, and Thiele bought it last year.
It has been with the family for 35 years.
However, the historic rains made her witness something she had never seen before.
“It’s never been this high and this fast,” he shares.
After grabbing his daughter, mother and six dogs, Thiele rushed to help others.
“That was even the first thing that before I called 911, I was calling my neighbors to make sure they were awake,” she adds.
As they waited to be rescued, the water kept rising along with their anxiety.
Thiele says her priority was comforting her daughter.
“At home, I was saying I don’t want to drown. There was this panic of how are we going, how can I get to the roof?” she admits
The O’Fallon Fire Protection District and Battalion Chief Gary McCutchen were on their way to help.
He notes that when he arrived at the scene, some families were screaming for help from the windows.
Others were trapped in the attic.
“The water was 10 to 15 feet deep and it was flowing very fast and the homeowners couldn’t have swum,” McCutchen said.
Thiele along with 17 other people were rescued during the night.
The teams were also assisted by five people from Cherokee Lakes Camp.
Thiele couldn’t believe there were cars below, swallowed by the water, as they floated to safety.
With all the rain, the O’Fallon Fire Department was busy in the early hours of the morning. At approx. 3 a.m. O’Fallon Fire…
published by O’Fallon Fire Protection District activated Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Although most of her items are gone, she is grateful for the outpouring of support from loved ones.
Thiele is a teacher at Prairie View Elementary in O’Fallon and shares that many teachers came to help her by cleaning her home and bringing snacks.
“Every time I sit down and cry someone pats me on the back and tells me we’ll get through this,” Thiele adds.
His friends have set up a GoFundMe to help, as Thiele appears to have lost everything, including his two cars.
If you want to donate, click here.
