Matthew Rigney and Danielle Hall were sleeping with their four children in the Tennessee apartment they had just moved into two weeks earlier when there was a flash flood. "We woke up and the water was filling our apartment," Rigney told WTVF-TV. Trace Creek, normally shallow and calm, just 20 feet (6 meters) away, had overflowed, turned by record rain into a raging torrent. "We heard a loud bang and it was the door coming in," Rigney said. The couple grabbed the children and ran into a back bedroom, but the water kept rising. Hall walked out a window to call for help, while Rigney clung to the children: 7-month-old twins Ryan and Rileighana in his arms, 19-month-old Brayla on his hip and 5-year-old Maleah wrapped around his neck. Once outside, Hall was immediately knocked over by the floodwaters, but was able to grab onto a tree. It was from there that she saw her husband and two older children climb the roof. To his horror, he did not see the twins. "Through the trees, I saw him climb to the roof, but I didn't see my babies and I yelled, 'Please tell me they're alive!'" Hall told the television station. But Ryan and Rileighana had been ripped from Rigney's house. seconds after the ruthless waters, which rose 6 feet (1.8 meters) high into the apartment, had swept him and the four children below, trapping them under a bed. The father and his two older sons were finally able to escape with the help of a neighbor. The lifeless bodies of Ryan and Rileighana were later found in the apartment after the floodwaters had receded. "I wish there was something I could have done," Rigney said, his voice shaking through tears. "I wish I had stayed there. I didn't know if the whole house was about to collapse on us." The babies were two of 18 victims claimed by Saturday's catastrophic flood that destroyed homes, destroyed roads and toppled cell towers and phone lines in rural Humphreys County. Surviving community members have joined in their grief, raising money for those who lost everything and to help pay for funerals. "We never, ever imagined that we would bury 7-month-old babies," Hall said, leaning on Rigney's shoulder as she sobbed.
Matthew Rigney and Danielle Hall were sleeping with their four children in the Tennessee apartment they had just moved into two weeks earlier when the flash flood struck.
"We woke up and the water was filling our apartment," Rigney told WTVF-TV.
Trace Creek, normally shallow and calm, just 20 feet (6 meters) away, had overflowed, turned by record rains into a raging torrent.
"We heard a loud bang and it was the door coming in," Rigney said.
The couple grabbed the children and ran into a back bedroom, but the water kept rising. Hall walked out a window to call for help, while Rigney clung to the children: 7-month-old twins Ryan and Rileighana in his arms, 19-month-old Brayla on his hip and 5-year-old Maleah wrapped around his neck. .
Once outside, Hall was immediately knocked over by the floodwaters, but was able to grab onto a tree. It was from there that she saw her husband and two older children climb the roof. To his horror, he did not see the twins.
"Through the trees, I saw him climb to the roof, but I didn't see my babies and I yelled, 'Please tell me they're alive!'" Hall told the television station.
But Ryan and Rileighana had been ripped from Rigney's arms, just seconds after the ruthless waters, which rose 6 feet (1.8 meters) high into the apartment, had swept him and the four children underneath, trapping them under a bed.
The father and his two older sons were finally able to escape with the help of a neighbor. The lifeless bodies of Ryan and Rileighana were later found in the apartment after the floodwaters had receded.
"I wish there was something I could have done," Rigney said, his voice shaking through tears. "I wish I had stayed there. I didn't know if the whole house was about to collapse."
The babies were two of 18 victims claimed by Saturday's catastrophic flood that destroyed homes, destroyed roads and toppled cell phone towers and phone lines in rural Humphreys County. Surviving community members have joined in their grief, raising money for those who lost everything and to help pay for funerals.
"We never, ever imagined that we would bury 7-month-old babies," Hall said, leaning on Rigney's shoulder as she sobbed.
