Texas couple survives historic flooding with little more than their faith

WIMBERLEY, Texas (Christian Examiner) -- A Texas couple who lost almost everything in the Memorial Day weekend storm that caused historic flooding in Texas and Oklahoma claims they've walked away with the most valuable treasures of all -- their faith and eachother.

Marty and Norman Abbott were asleep in their home along the Blanco River in Wimberley when rushing waters slammed into the house and inundated the structure, San Antonio's KENS 5 reported.

"It hit the house! Bam! You had five minutes to get anything of any value. Everything else, is gone," she said recalling the moment she and her husband scooped up their cat and ran upstairs.

"It was like the tide, it was like the ocean going in and going out," Marty told the station. Though the couple had lived in house since 1976, they did not have flood insurance and the home had never previously flooded.

The couple was reportedly stranded inside for two days. Among the few items they were able to save were their wallets and some papers, according to Insurance News.

Just over a week later, the couple says their home is nothing more than mud and mold now and a pile of wreckage. Somehow, a simple cross near a downstairs doorway still adorns the exterior of the home where she vacationed as a child.

That it withstood the life-threatening storm reminds them of the things in life that really matter. What motivates them now is their faith, KENS 5 reported the couple said.

"These are things," Marty said. "The Lord is good. The Lord takes care of us and we trust him to take care of us."

With Reuters reporting 18 deaths from the floods and some still missing, Marty said she recognizes she has much to be thankful for.

"I'm not sad," Marty Abbott said. "I'm just happy to have my husband of 45 years, and my sister for we won't say how many years. I'm just happy to be alive."