Families in a flood-devastated Texas town are welcomed home again and are praising God for His love and provision shown through Samaritan’s Purse.
The West Central Texas town of San Angelo lies alongside the northern boundary of the Chihuahuan Desert, a semi-arid region prone to heat waves, drought, and wildfires. But in the early morning of July 4, 2025, the area was deluged with 15 inches of rain—nearly a year’s worth—in just a few hours. The shallow, rocky soil couldn’t absorb the downpour quick enough, resulting in a massive flood that damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes.
San Angelo residents Fernando and Lupita Aguirre were welcomed home by Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers.
San Angelo residents Fernando and Lupita Aguirre would experience great loss but also God’s great love in the storm’s wake. Their hearts would be transformed with new life in Jesus Christ.
A Destructive Deluge in the Desert
They’d gone to bed late on July 3 to the sound of saturating rain only to wake a few hours later to a scene they could never imagine in the drought-prone area—three feet of water rushing through their mobile home.
“We were so scared,” Fernando said. “The ceiling started falling down and the floor started coming apart. Electrical cables were exposed and popping. I looked out and our two dogs were floating in the backyard. Our carport washed away. I tried to open the front door but the water was too strong. We couldn’t get out and the water was rising. It then started coming through the windows. I grabbed a sawzall and started cutting a hole in the door but that made things worse because even more water flooded inside. Finally, we did get the door open and that’s when some police and firemen arrived and rescued us.”
The couple received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior during our work on their property.
Three days later, after the water receded, Fernando and Lupita returned to their home and discovered they had lost everything. But with nowhere else to go, they stayed in their ruined residence for the next two months with no power, water-logged furniture, a partial roof, and walls turned black by fast-growing mold. “The temperature inside was around 120 degrees and there were tons of mosquitoes,” Fernando said. “It was horrible living there.”
Hope for the First Time Since the Storm
After enduring weeks of misery, the couple came in contact with Samaritan’s Purse at a local church serving as a base of operations in the region.
Following our relief phase in the days and early weeks after the storm, we stayed in the area to serve families still suffering without livable homes. We were able to help secure the Aguirres a temporary place to live and informed them that they’d been approved for a new mobile home through our U.S. Rebuilds program.
Staff and volunteers gathered to pray over their home and the region still recovering from the flood.
“For the first time, we had hope,” Fernando said.
Fast forward a few months and the situation for Fernando and Lupita gave them reason to celebrate.
In late February, Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers gathered with Fernando and Lupita to hand over the keys to their new home during a dedication on the property where their former mobile home had flooded beyond repair.
“God is real. Jesus has blessed us with this wonderful home,” Fernando said. “I hope we can be there for someone else like Samaritan’s Purse was there for us. We never expected a big heart like this. We love Samaritan’s Purse!”
Even greater than the new home, Fernando and Lupita came to know Jesus Christ as they heard the Gospel shared by the people who’d demonstrated God’s love in word and in deed. They were recently baptized at our host church, PaulAnn Baptist, in San Angelo.
“I gave my life to God,” Lupita said. “I’m a new person.” Fernando echoed that thought. “Yes, we gave our lives to Jesus. This is the best thing we could do with our lives. We can now forget the past. We’re living for God now.”
It Takes My Breath Away
Five miles north of the Aguirres’ home, Sulema Lopez was finally home again as well. Samaritan’s Purse rebuild volunteers were able to repair her severely flood-damaged home and welcome her back with celebration.
Sulema Lopez was grateful to be home again in a house repaired by Samaritan’s Purse volunteers.
After living with relatives for the past eight months, Sulema walked through her newly restored home. “I’m finally home,” she said. “It takes my breath away. I love it!”
Her breath was also taken away when she woke up early last July 4 to someone screaming outside.
“I opened the front door and saw flood water in my front yard and a woman stuck in her car on the street,” Sulema said. “The water was up to her windows. She couldn’t open the door. She was screaming for help.”
The street below Sulema’s house had become a high and swift current of water making it impossible for Sulema to get near the car. Quickly she went to higher ground in a nearby yard and tossed the trapped woman a length of sturdy garden hose.
In addition to keys, homeowners receive a special Bible signed by the team and a Paid in Full invoice to remind homeowners of how Jesus’ blood shed on the cross covers the debt of sin.
The woman escaped through the driver side window and held on tight as Sulema and a neighbor pulled her to safety. By the time Sulema ran back to check on her house, the floodwater was flowing under the front door and seeping through the base of the walls. She called her mom and sister and told them she would try to swim to them—three miles away. She scooped up her 22-pound dog Rocky and headed out into the floodwaters.
Sulema swam through the surging current with Rocky for the next three hours. Exhausted, she finally was able to gain footing on a curb, but she fell off of it, landed on her knees, and couldn’t get back up.
“I thought ‘I am not going to make it,” she said. “’The current is too strong. It’s going to take me.’ I started praying, ‘Please Father protect me.’ And then out of nowhere this truck appeared driving through the water. The water was over the truck’s wheels. The driver said, ‘We’re going to help you.’ They grabbed me and pulled me into the truck, and drove me to my sister who was running toward us.”
Thankful and Blessed
The next day, Sulema returned to her house only to find her furniture, cabinets, floors, appliances, walls—everything—ruined. She didn’t know where or who to turn to. Then she heard about Samaritan’s Purse.
Sulema was blessed by the work, prayer, and encouragement of our teams.
“I’m amazed there are people who would put their lives on hold to help me,” Sulema said. “I wouldn’t be where I am right now without them. I’m very thankful and blessed.“
From God’s protection during the dangerous flood and up to the day she walked into her restored home, Sulema’s journey since the July storm has deepened her faith.
“I now know that I’m never alone. God is with me no matter what.”
Samaritan’s Purse continues to serve many affected by the storm in San Angelo. We are constructing over two dozen homes, providing mobile homes to nearly a dozen families, and are making repairs to scores of houses damaged by the flood. Please continue to pray for the residents of the flood-damaged region as they pick up the pieces of their lives and for our teams as they serve in Jesus’ Name.
