WARREN, Texas — A Warren man had a close call when he was nearly swept away in flood waters Monday morning.
67-year-old veteran Floyd Burleson woke up to water rapidly rising on his property and he had to be rescued from inside his van.
Burleson has lived on his property for the past 25 years and he says his land has never flooded like this, even after Harvey and Imelda.
This is the second time his property has flooded within the past three weeks.
"I heard my commode bubbling. It was to the doors of my van over there. So I thought I'd better get out of here," Burleson said.
Burleson's only option was to escape his van.
"I turned around, and that's as far as I got. I sat in my van until they came and rescued me. I was up to my beard in water," he said.
Burleson's phone wasn't working and he was left with no way to call for help.
"I was kind of getting scared there for a minute, but the game warden came and got me out," said Burleson.
Burleson bought his van as a replacement after two of his trucks were destroyed by flooding on April 10.
"I traded a motorcycle for that van. Spent a bunch of money getting that legal. Now I don't know if they're salvageable or not," Burleson told 12News.
Burleson says the damages are easily in the tens of thousands of dollars and the repairs to his home after the first round of flooding are now rendered useless.
"I got a good 18 inches of water in my house. Got everything redone and smelling pretty good in there again. My house had never flooded. Never in 25 years, it had never caught water until the last flood," he said.
Burleson used to own the entire stretch of land on Warrior Drive, from Highway 69 up to Black Creek. He says he sold the next door property to a local logging company last year.
Now, he feels the flooding is a result of a heightened embankment at the new business.
"If I have to relocate and buy another place to live they ought to foot the bill," Burleson said.
Burleson says before he can pursue legal compensation , he needs all the support he can get.
"I'm barefooted, but I'm okay! Thanks everybody!" he said.
Burleson's family has set up a GoFundMe to assist with the damages.