Man Reunited With His Dogs After Lost in Flood

by WAKA Action 8 News

Flooding hit a Montgomery man in a very personal way. He was left searching for his two missing dogs, which had vanished after Sunday’s heavy rains. Alabama News Network was the only news crew there to catch the moment when they were finally reunited.

When we first came here to Dumas Street, located across the street from Catoma Creek, homes were being evacuated because of all of the flooding — but we ran into one man who wasn’t worried about the damage to his home as much as finding his missing dogs.

Dumas Street looked like a creek. The road was totally submurged in water.

Lee Wright lives here on Dumas Street. He says he’s watched the water rise the last two days, worried about what could happen next.

Wright was one of 10 people forced from his home in west Montgomery due to floods, but two very important four-legged friends were still missing. We followed him as he searched the roadways for his dogs with only one hope…

“I hope they made it to high ground, you know I turned them loose hoping they’d make it up high from the water,” Said Wright.

“As they’re treading through the waters, we’re always going to be sounding the ground in front of us to see if there are any open manholes, you know swift water is always a danger to us as far,” Said Montgomery Fire Chief, Ronnie Bozeman.

Both Bullet and Chico were missing for about 16 hours. Until our cameras spotted one of the dogs stuck in the mud — it was was Bullet. That’s when Montgomery’s swift water rescue team headed for the water to save him. Firefighters also found Chico.

“Emotion. See how happy he is to see me? Happy to see me, I’m happy to see him,” Said Wright after he was reunited with his dogs.

“We do what we do because we love doing it and so it’s very gratifying to come out here and help people,” Said Bozeman.
    
It was a silver lining to the floods in his neighborhood — and a man and his best friends finally reunited.

Wright says he wont be able to stay at his home for some time due to flood damage. But he says he’s just glad his dogs are okay.

Firefighters, EMA and Police are continuing to asses this area near Catoma Creek to see if anyone needs help. They’re asking you to be careful if you live in a low-lying area.

The dogs were not injured. Firefighters say those were were forced to leave their homes are now in hotels thanks to the American Red Cross.