Texas flood survivor forced to break through window, cling to meter box for hours to stay alive

One Texas flood survivor was forced to go to extreme lengths to survive the deadly flash flooding after he realized even first responders couldn't help him. 

Christian Fell broke through a window in a house and clung to a meter box for hours to survive the fatal high-rise waters. He spoke with "FOX & Friends" to discuss the harrowing experience, crediting God for his ability to stay afloat. 

"I just kind of saw the window was broken, and that was just kind of a light bulb moment, and I had nowhere else to go," Fell told Lawrence Jones on Monday. 

"I realized I couldn't just sit there and swim for three or four hours until the water went away or someone came to save me. I went outside and just held on to the side of the building."

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Fell said he heard a thunderstorm late at night leading up to the flash flooding, but he was not prepared for what the "strange noises" would foreshadow shortly thereafter. 

First responders scan the banks of the Guadalupe River for individuals swept away by flooding in Ingram, Texas, Friday, July 4, 2025. (Michel Fortier/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

"I start hearing these really strange noises coming from deeper in the house, and originally I thought someone broke into the house," he said. "So I get up and I swing my feet over the side of the bed and that's when I realized I was standing in water up to my ankle."

"I tried to open the door, and just a wall of water starts rushing in at me, and that brought it up to probably about my waist," he recalled. "I try to go back to my bedroom, and by this point, there's furniture floating, and I'm having to crawl over it to get through the doorways, and I finally get back to the bedroom."

By this point, Fell had called 911, but he knew he would have to save himself if he was going to survive the ravaging waters. 

"I tried to throw all my belongings onto the air mattress because it's floating," he said. "And by this point, the air mattress was well above my head, so I couldn't climb onto it. So I was trying to climb onto a wooden dresser to get onto the air mattress, but that just kept rotating and tumbling underneath me."

"And I was on the phone with 911, and I just kind of realized it couldn't really do anything for me," he added. "And that's kind of when I realized I had to save myself or keep myself alive until they could come and rescue me."

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Jones asked who Fell credits for his survival. 

"God. I think that's pretty much it," he responded. 

"It was unbelievable. I don't really know if I believe it just yet."

More than 80 people in Central Texas have died as a result of the flash floods as officials search for dozens still missing.