Before Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area, thousands of Texans evacuated to safety. Still, some people were trapped and needed help from either first responders or kind strangers to help them get to safety.
Of course, the unprecedented flooding and unexpected power of this storm means that emergency services were quickly overloaded. During emergencies like Hurricane Harvey, it may even be impossible to get through to 911. So sometimes, in situations like this, people can find themselves trapped for much longer than expected.
One Texas woman, Erykah, found herself trapped in her home as floodwater rushed in. She was stranded with a full house of eight adults, three kids, and a 3-week-old infant.
Erykah and her family had called for help but were unable to get through to emergency services. Desperate, she took to social media — and hundreds of strangers came to her aid.
Keep scrolling to learn the incredible story of how strangers all over the world helped Erykah and her family get to safety.

This is Erykah. She lives with her family in the Texas area. They found themselves stranded in their home during Hurricane Harvey.

Erykah says eight adults, three children, and a 3-week-old infant were stuck in the home; she told Twitter that the children were 17 and 14 years old. Erykah tried to reach emergency services for help, but all the numbers she tried were busy.

Desperate, Erykah reached out to Twitter for help. She had tried everything else, and the situation was getting dire. With her cousin's 3-week-old baby trapped by the rising water, there was not much else Erykah could do.

Immediately, strangers online sprang into action, many of them moved by the fact that there was a newborn trapped by the hurricane.

Plenty of strangers even added Erykah and her family to Facebook groups aimed at helping people. Others were able to get through to emergency services for her.

Erykah's cousin, Shardea, posted a picture of the flooding online. Erykah said any rescuers would not be able to get close enough to their house without a boat.

The next morning, Erykah and her family were still stuck inside their flooding home. Strangers kept reaching out on Twitter to hear if the family had been rescued yet.

Nearly 14 hours after her original tweet, Erykah gave her followers the news they'd all been waiting and praying for. She and her family were finally safe.
Erykah and her family's rescue came thanks to the amazing effort of all the strangers on social media who saw her tweet, and the brave first responders who rushed to her aid as soon as they knew the family was stuck. It was so smart of Erykah to use social media to get help when she couldn't get through to 911!
If you would like to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, you can donate to the American Red Cross.
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