http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spor...witter-premium

Rockets coach's wife rescued during West Virginia flooding

Laurel D'Antoni was packing and watching the weather reports, preparing to join her husband, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, in Houston the next day.

But the rain kept coming last Thursday and the water behind their West Virginia home kept rising. There was no way to imagine the enormity of the floods that would overwhelm so much of their home state or would require her to be rescued.


A day that began with Laurel D'Antoni sending photos of the storm to her husband in Houston ended with a stranger in a rowboat arriving to take her to safety.

"I made a reservation to go to the hotel, but as I go out, the front of my house - which is not creek side - is flooded," Laurel said. "I went around to my driveway and there were some property managers looking at the damage. You could hear cars hitting the bridge we'd have to go over. Now, the property manager and another guy, they're stranded. We're like on an island.

Help on the way

"They call a guy with a rowboat and he comes to get us. Talk about chivalry. There was one life jacket that they gave me. It was white water. It was really rough. He's telling us, 'If the boat goes over, swim horizontally, stay away from the trees and say goodbye to your cats.' This man rowed three men and one woman in this boat in this water. They take me away and go back for other families."

ROCKETS

Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford stands on the court after the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics 102-101 in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Rockets look for reinforcements as free agency looms The Rockets are working toward keeping Donatas Motiejunas (left) while Terrence Jones is headed for unrestricted free agency. Rockets tender Donatas Motiejunas, but not Terrence Jones New Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, left, and GM Daryl Morey hope to get lucky in Thursday's draft. Rockets have money and needs, but also competition Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half of an NBA game at Toyota Center, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, in Houston. ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle ) Solomon/Smith Report: Can the Rockets land Kevin Durant? By all indications, Dwight Howard's stint here is over. Rockets' free-agent needs long, as are odds to fill
Laurel stayed that night in the dark at a friend's house. Throughout the night and the next day, friends and strangers came by, not knowing if anyone was there. On Friday, she was able to return to her home in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and learned of the damage around Greenbrier, Kanawha and Nicholas counties.

"When I left, they were fishing out propane tanks from the river," Laurel said. "Now, they are floating bombs floating down the river. I have a generator, but it runs on natural gas. The natural gas was shut off because there were so many explosions. There's cars everywhere. There's a car in our backyard in the gravel. There used to be a creek. Now, it has a sandbar with a car in it. They checked to see if there was somebody in it and marked it with a red check. The check means there's no one alive in it. When they pull it out, there may be somebody in it. It looks like an avalanche on it."

Monday, the death toll was at 23. There were 18,000 people without power.

"We're so lucky," Laurel said. "We had damage, but that's nothing. We had a friend of ours who lost everything he owns, his house, his belongings, everything. He's staying at our house. We (contacted) the NBA, too, just to get clothing and toiletries and anything just to help. We need people to know to donate to the United Way or the American Red Cross."

Through it all, Mike D'Antoni could only keep up by following news reports. Laurel intentionally did not share any details until she was safe so he could focus on the NBA draft.

"I don't want him to worry about me," Laurel said. "I'm fine, I'm doing fine. What can he do? He's helpless. The guy said, 'Did you tell Mike?' I said, 'No way. I'll tell him if we make it through this river. Let him draft well with the Houston Rockets. I'll tell him after.' "

Long-distance anxiety

Yet, even hearing about her ordeal after it was over was chilling for Mike.

"I was going back and forth," Mike said of checking the news and working during the draft that night. "The first phone call comes in the morning. 'I've never seen rain like this, it's unbelievable.' Then another call, 'The water is over the banks.' Then later, 'It's up to the house.' Once she was on safer ground, I could breathe a sigh of relief.

"I hate to even tell our story because so many people are suffering. It's so devastating. But at the same time, the boat was like white-water rafting. It's pretty terrifying. But we were extremely lucky. "

Mike said he won't soon forget that draft night. Laurel will remember that night for many things, but in many ways for the people that cared so much in West Virginia and since she arrived in Houston.

"Everyone here in Houston is so kind and so nice and so loving," Laurel said. "I'm getting hugs from people I don't even know."