Watching, then fleeing, floodwaters

The Cavenaughs, including Earl's brother Thomas, give a blow-by-blow account of their experience with the flooding. As they measured the water's progress with a measuring stick stuck in the ground, they were astounded to find that the water rose at "a foot an hour or something." They kept a pickup truck idling outside the front door, afraid to turn it off because the water had reached the exhaust pipe. By midnight, they noticed the water was entering the house and left.