San Angelo Teacher Recalls Rescue From Tree During Flood

SAN ANGELO, TX — A San Angelo ISD teacher survived the devastating flooding in the Concho Valley by clinging to a small tree outside her submerged home for more than an hour, an ordeal captured in dramatic drone footage shared by first responders.

Kyla Constancio said she was terrified and believed she might die as water surged into her home early on July 4. “I really thought I was going to die,” Constancio told Crossroads Today in an interview. “I had no idea it was going to get as bad as it was. It started rising really quick, and that’s when I kind of knew I was in trouble.”

Flooding in the Hill Country has claimed over 100 lives, with one death reported in Tom Green County. Constancio’s own ordeal began when a water sensor in an exterior building housing her washer and dryer triggered an alert. Initially suspecting a leak, she discovered standing water outside her home after heavy rains swept through the area. Within half an hour, floodwaters had risen to chest height inside her house.

“I was telling [my aunt], like, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. And she’s like, ‘You’re not dying. Keep holding on,’” Constancio said.

Constancio alternated between calls to her aunt and a 911 operator, who advised her to try getting onto her roof. But strong currents made it impossible for her to pull herself up, despite being a strong swimmer. “How do I get out of here? Like, where can I go? What’s going to happen?” she recalled thinking.

After prying open her back door to reach a covered patio, she struggled to find safe footing amid the rushing water. Spotting a small, old tree in front of her home, she realized it was her only option. “I look ahead of me and I have like a tree that’s old and it’s not that big, but at this point, like this is my only option,” she said. “The fact that just this little tree, like, saved me. I don’t know how people hold on for long, because I was ready to let go, like it was just so hard.”

Constancio held onto the tree for over an hour while staying on the phone with emergency operators and her aunt, her strength fading as the floodwaters roared around her. Rescuers initially had trouble locating her, but her uncle, Bryan, who drove in from Wall, helped guide drone operators and directed a San Angelo resident with a boat to her location.

“My uncle was literally my hero. He is the reason that I was saved,” Constancio said.

Drone footage released by first responders shows a DFW police officer walking along the roof of Constancio’s home to reach her as she clung to the tree. Too exhausted to pull herself up, Constancio was consoled by the officer until the boat arrived. She was rescued and brought to safety, then taken to stay with her aunt and uncle in Wall.

Constancio credits the officer, first responders, her family, and the San Angelo community for saving her life and helping her begin the long process of recovery. “Honestly, all I can say is I have so much gratitude for the community of San Angelo, the police officers, the firefighters, you know, our search and rescue teams,” she said. “All I could do was thank God in these moments, because after a storm comes a rainbow.”

After the waters subsided, Constancio discovered that nearly all her belongings, including her clothes and vehicle, were destroyed. She now faces rebuilding her life alongside many other Hill Country residents dealing with the flood’s aftermath.