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St. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. \u2014 Early Tuesday morning, Heather Thiele was sleeping in her basement when she was awakened by an emergency alert around 3 a.m.<\/p>\n
“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. <\/p>\n
His home rests on Belleau Creek Road near Belleau Lake Drive.<\/p>\n
With a lake in the background, the water was overwhelmed with nearly a foot of rain.<\/p>\n
Thiele’s grandmother has owned the house for decades, and Thiele bought it last year.<\/p>\n
It has been with the family for 35 years.<\/p>\n
However, the historic rains made her witness something she had never seen before.<\/p>\n
“It’s never been this high and this fast,” he shares. <\/p>\n
After grabbing his daughter, mother and six dogs, Thiele rushed to help others.<\/p>\n
“That was even the first thing that before I called 911, I was calling my neighbors to make sure they were awake,” she adds. <\/p>\n
As they waited to be rescued, the water kept rising along with their anxiety.<\/p>\n
Thiele says her priority was comforting her daughter.<\/p>\n
“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 <\/p>\n
The O’Fallon Fire Protection District and Battalion Chief Gary McCutchen were on their way to help.<\/p>\n
He notes that when he arrived at the scene, some families were screaming for help from the windows. <\/p>\n
Others were trapped in the attic. <\/p>\n
“The water was 10 to 15 feet deep and it was flowing very fast and the homeowners couldn’t have swum,” McCutchen said. <\/p>\n
Thiele along with 17 other people were rescued during the night. <\/p>\n
The teams were also assisted by five people from Cherokee Lakes Camp. <\/p>\n
Thiele couldn’t believe there were cars below, swallowed by the water, as they floated to safety. <\/p>\n
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…<\/p>\n
published by O’Fallon Fire Protection District<\/a> activated Tuesday, July 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n Although most of her items are gone, she is grateful for the outpouring of support from loved ones.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “Every time I sit down and cry someone pats me on the back and tells me we’ll get through this,” Thiele adds. <\/p>\n His friends have set up a GoFundMe to help, as Thiele appears to have lost everything, including his two cars.<\/p>\n If you want to donate, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n