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Video shows family escaping as rushing floodwaters fill California home

Posted at 11:20 AM, Mar 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-29 11:20:54-04

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif -- As rapidly rising water flooded their home last week, two Northern California parents rushed to get their children, dog and parrot to safety – and they caught the desperate evacuation on an iPad.

In their video, a 10-year-old is heard breathlessly praying for his family's home to be saved as the rain continues to pound the truck the boy is in, "Please, I had a good time at this house. Please."

Dominic Taylor Sr., the father of the boy heard in the video, told KTXL, “A lot of the stuff we put into it, (some) handcrafted, and then to watch just lift up and get destroyed. That was kind of heartbreaking."

Taylor said in his 24 years living in rural Mariposa County, home to Yosemite Valley and roughly 150 miles southeast of Sacramento, he has never had to deal with flooding. So, when he first saw the weather on Thursday he didn’t give it a second thought.

"Funny me, the only thing that I was thinking about was my wife’s recyclable cans," he told KTXL.

As soon as he went outside, what seemed like an ordinary rainfall turned into a torrential terror.

In just a T-shirt, boxer briefs and with bare feet, Taylor managed to save his family from the rising waters.

The water inside the house got up to about 6 feet. The Taylors said their home will have to come down.

Other parts of the county were flooded as well, including Don Pedro School, which is closed for the week.

“We’ll be ready to go for the kids, probably with some modifications to our facilities at that point," said Principal Reed Yancey.

At one point in the Taylors' video, the boy's mother is seen pushing a car away from the truck her son is in. "Oh, she’s Superman! Oh, she’s Superman, guys! She’s Superman!"

"It makes us stronger, knowing that we survived it and we’ll just move on," Taylor said.

The Taylor family does not have flood insurance. However, community members are helping them rebuild.