KIRBYVILLE, Texas — One auction barn owner had to move quickly to save his livestock after major flooding took place in Kirbyville.
Jeff Muckelroy and his family own the Kirbyville Auction Barn located off of Highway 96.
He had over a dozen livestock that he was forced to rescue out of the high water, one at a time.
The water on Highway 96 bridge has decreased and some traffic has been allowed to pass.
However, the Kirbyville Auction Barn is still flooded. Muckelroy says he's never seen anything quite like it.
Muckelroy has lived in Jasper County his entire life. When he received word that the Kirbyville Auction Barn was taking water, he took swift action.
“I got a call this morning at about 5, 6:00 saying I might want to head this way because we’re getting a lot of rain," said Muckelroy. "I had no idea we were going to get the amount we got though. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Six cattle, seven horses and three donkeys were neck deep in the flood water.
“It was chest deep when we got there," he said.
With the help of local first responders, Muckelroy led the livestock one-by-one to safety with multiple trips by boat.
“We had two escaped calves that are somewhere behind the barn by the railroad tracks. We’ll get to them when the water goes down. It was only about a foot deep on the highway," he said. "We had a large truck and trailer there where we would just lead them up, push them into the trailer, and brought them all to this ranch at one time.”
Muckelroy coordinates auctions on weekends. He says that he's fortunate the flood didn't happen then.
All of his livestock are now safe.
“If it had been a Friday or a Saturday there would have been hundreds there, and it would have been a disaster," he said. "Just open the gate and hope they find high ground.”
Muckelroy says he has first responders and the community to thank for coming together to support each other.
“I must have had a hundred calls or texts today people wanting to help, you know, ‘what can they do, what can they do,’ it shows you how good people actually are,” he said.
Muckelroy says business will have to take a break indefinitely, but he is eager to get everything back up and running as soon as possible.
GET NEWS & WEATHER ALERTS | Download the 12News App to your mobile device
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.