Filmmaker's drone, social media post help save Hope Mills man, dog trapped in flooded house
HOPE MILLS (WTVD) -- When Army veteran Quavas Hart saw what was happening around him after Hurricane Matthew, he wanted to connect with people.
Since he couldn't get to them in his car, he used his drone. He's a filmmaker under the name of @ImSoFirst on Twitter.
"If there's a life out there, I've got to do what I can do to help save them," Hart said.
He flew his drone around a neighborhood in Hope Mills, but he didn't see anyone in the houses. He did post a picture on Twitter.
A man in Austin, Texas, Craig Williams, saw it and sent it to his brother Chris in Hope Mills. The last time Craig had heard from Chris, the water was getting dangerously close to his home. He told his brother, at least this isn't your house.
Chris' response? "Dude, that is my house."
Chris was trapped.
Overnight Saturday, water from Matthew flooded his house. He had no power, no lights. Things were floating in the water and hitting his leg, ripping his pants.
"My dog was terrified," he said. "I was cold and wet and basically I knew everything in my house was destroyed."
In minutes, the water was over his head and just below his second-story window.
"I can see people over there, but I'm looking at the current that's going between these houses. My fear was if I jump out the window, my dog would go that way and she'd be gone," he said.
So he and his dog Lana spend a long, dark night upstairs. He gets a message Sunday from his brother, Craig: "Hey, this drone guy, this drone guy is going to come get you."
Craig had contacted Hart at @ImSoFIRST on Twitter after seeing the picture and knowing it was Chris' house.
"It turned out to be, the guy was actually in that house!" Hart said. "He had been in there all night, him and his dog, he was fighting for his life."
Hart went back to the neighborhood and sent out his drone. He even hooked up his own boat to go to the house to get him when a FEMA team spotted his drone, saw Chris hanging out of the second-story window, and went over to save him and Lana.
"He had been cold and he was starting to lose hope and he heard that drone outside," Hart said.
That's when filmmaker @ImSoFIRST captured an incredible rescue.
WATCH: Drone video of rescue by @ImSoFIRST
