On March 27th, we suffered through one of the most unimaginable things possible.

My name is Kody Boye, and for the past two years, me and my roommates -- who consists of Rhiannon Frater, her husband, and her elderly 86 year old mother -- we have lived in this home making it our own. Three of the four of us are disabled, so we have been living together. Unfortunately, the devastating flooding that took place in the Rio Grande Valley has made the home unlivable. The house already smells of mold, even after a short period of flooding, and the sewage that leaked in through the bathrooms and walls has made the home unsafe. The potential sewer leakage into the pipes is also a safety concern.

Rhiannon and her husband evacuated her elderly mother and many of our cats. They did not realize how badly the area was flooded. They thought they were getting ahead of the floodwaters, but that was not the case. We were never told to evacuate, and because it was dark, it was hard to determine how deep the water was, and there was a curtain of rain. Visibility was awful.

Rhiannon posted this on her BlueSky recounting the events:

"We were forced to evacuate our home tonight. Water crept into the house and we rushed to leave. We could barely see and got trapped by the water.

"We had to push our car for three to five miles through waist high water. We were lucky it wasn’t running water or we and our cats would have died. My poor mom kept calm throughout and helped steer the car.

"It was at times impossible to see the road. We got lucky and the car started after we got to higher ground. It was harrowing to try and make our way to safety. Cars were stranded everywhere. We kept turning around to avoid the flood.

"We finally made it to a hotel where we got the last suite. We are finally safe and drying out. We left our roommate behind with some of the cats planning a second trip. That was impossible. The police do know where he is and the situation."

Meanwhile, I remained behind to document the damage and to take care of the remaining cats. I had limited water and food in the house during this time and had to make due with limited resources. They had intended to come back for me, but they did not realize how badly the flooding was.

The following day (Friday, March 28th), Rhiannon's husband had to brave flooded roads in order to rescue me. Many roads were impassable, including the one by the river. When he arrived, the two of us had to trudge through water with two additional cats. Thankfully, I have made it safely to their hotel.

Rhiannon and her husband have already been denied by their insurance due to the fact that homeowners insurance do not provide flood insurance. Combined with their car being submerged and sustaining electrical issues (even though its driveable,) we have also had to pay for the hotel, as well as clothes from Walmart that were drenched during the escape. The bags we packed were also soaked.

We are asking for monetary help to buy us time while we figure out our next steps. Because they haven't declared it a disaster area yet, we are unable to apply for FEMA assistance. We are in desperate need of more time at the hotel so we can plan our next steps.

It is hard for us to ask for help, but we feel like we don't have a choice because our resources are limited.

Because we are homeless at the moment, we need to remain at the hotel. If you would like to help immediately, and help us stay sheltered at the last suite that was available in our hotel, please donate to this GoFundMe

We saw most of the cat colony we have been feeding and they are safe. We left them food, and we are still planning on going back to examine the damages.

Any additional help would be beyond appreciated as we move forward.