FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. – As search and recovery efforts continue in Kerrville, Texas, after devastating flash floods, one Missouri man can’t help but relive a night he’ll never forget.

It was May 2000 when floodwaters tore through Union, Missouri, with little warning, catching families off guard in the middle of the night and causing more than $100 million in damage. Four people were killed in Franklin County.

Brian Pickard, now an alderman for the City of Union, was 29 at the time. He was home with his wife and toddler when the water started rising fast. Too fast.

“It was in less than 45 minutes that the water was in the street and we had to get out. That’s how quick it was,” Pickard recalled. “It filled the basement up in two minutes.”

Pickard says by the time they realized it was time to leave, water was already six inches deep in their kitchen.

“All the lights were still on in the house,” he said. “The water was rushing, hitting the back of the house. We jumped off into calm water, but between the houses it was just rushing, and that’s where I had to climb the fence.”

Looking at the images from Texas, Pickard says the scene is hauntingly familiar. Fast-moving water, no time to react, and far-reaching loss. Over 100 people have died in Kerr County as of Monday.

“After we got out of it, we were like, how’d we survive that?”

Daylight brought heartbreak. Pickard’s family lost nearly everything. But like many in Union, they rebuilt. Two and a half decades later, Pickard uses his story to offer empathy and encouragement to others starting over.

“You just gotta take one day at a time and move on. That’s all you can do.”