State Fair vendor monitors rising floodwaters in Florida home from afar
DALLAS – At Fair Park in Dallas, the State Fair's opening day brings a throng of fans enjoying food, games and rides.
"I was born and raised in it," said Thomas Lauther, owner-operator of the Starship ride.
For much of the year, Lauther's home away from home is on a midway.
"And I wouldn't do anything else," he said.
Still, amid the revelry, Lauther's story reminds us of how closely we are all connected during a crisis. While he operates his ride in Texas, the storm surge from Hurricane Helene is rising in his Florida home, just south of Tampa.
"I didn't think water would rise that fast!" said Lauther. "It was crazy… I mean, within an hour it went from an inch to four feet," he said.
His family evacuated in advance of the storm. He watched the storm on his video doorbell until they lost power.
"My wife did the best she could with trying to board stuff up and seal doors and everything and put stuff up on tables as high as she could. But I still think a lot of the water got to it," he said.
A neighbor managed to snap a quick picture before also hurrying to escape the rising water. Lauther said he'd just installed a new air conditioning unit this week. Last year, the family was displaced for months following flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia. And the flooding from Helene is far worse.
"It's very hard not knowing what's going on," said Lauther. "But I'm here to do the job and that's what I'll do," he said.