ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Early Tuesday morning, Heather Thiele sleeps in her basement when she's woken up by an emergency alert around three in the morning.
"All of sudden, my bedroom window above my bed busted out and water started coming in and I ran to my daughter’s room because we are both in the basement," she says.
Her home rests on Belleau Creek Road near Belleau Lake Drive.
With a lake in the back, the water got overwhelmed with nearly a foot of rain.
The flooding followed.
Thiele's grandma has owned the home for decades and just last year, Thiele bought it.
It's been with the family for 35 years.
However, historic rainfall made her witness something she's never seen before.
"It has never been as high as this one and as fast-moving," she shares.
After grabbing her daughter, her mom, and her six dogs, Thiele then rushed to help others.
"That was even the first thing before I called 911, I was calling my neighbors to make sure they were awake," she adds.
As they waited to get rescued, the water kept rising along with their anxiety.
Thiele says her priority was to comfort her daughter.
"At home, she was saying I don’t want to drown. There was that panic of how are they going to us, how do I get to the roof?" she admits.
On their way to help were the O'Fallon Fire Protection District and Battalion Chief Gary McCutchen.
He notes arriving at the scene, some families were screaming for help from the windows.
Others were trapped in their attics.
"The water was 10 to 15 deep and it was flowing very fast and the homeowners could not have swam across," McCutchen explains.
Thiele along with 17 others were rescued overnight.
Crews also assisted five people from Cherokee Lakes Campground.
Thiele couldn't believe cars were underneath, swallowed by the water, as they floated away to safety.
While most of her items are gone, she's grateful for the wave of support coming from loved ones.
Thiele is a teacher at Prairie View Elementary in O'Fallon and she shares that so many teachers came to help her out by cleaning out her home and bringing snacks.
"Every time I sit down and cry someone pats me on the back and says we are going to get through this," Thiele adds.
Her friends have created a GoFundMe to help since Thiele seems to have lost everything, including her two cars.
If you'd like to donate, click here.