Baton Rouge

God's Love: Mightier Than Many Waters

Story and photos by Tom Price unless otherwise noted

Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:28

Rising Water

Nelle Fruge awoke soon after midnight on Sunday, August 14. Stepping out of bed on her farm in Baton Rouge, LA, she was stunned to be standing in knee-deep water. All my animals might drown, she thought fearfully. Though the rain had been relentless over the past several days, she was in shock since her property of 25 years had never flooded.

As she inched toward the kitchen, she found her pet rabbit swimming toward her. She managed to wade out to the barn to let the bigger animals out. An attempt to find safety for the smaller pets in her truck bed, parked 150 feet away from her house, was thwarted when the waves began cresting above the sides of the vehicle. Wet and shivering, a baby calf she had raised drowned in her arms, too heavy for the petite woman to continue holding up out of the water.

Realizing that her only option was to go back to the house and climb onto the roof, she floated the smaller animals in a plastic tub, clasping in her teeth a bag containing the rabbit. When the frightened animal fell out, Nelle reached down into the murky river to grab it. As she lifted the rabbit out of the water, a water snake attached its teeth to her arm. Shaking off the nonpoisonous creature, she collapsed on the roof with her animals. Through the day and night she could hear the cries of the animals she could not rescue. They remained on the roof for 24 hours. She prayed to the Lord for His help.

The complete article is published in issue 70 of Calvary Chapel Magazine.