00:00At 78 years young, this Vietnam War veteran knows about weathering storms.
00:05It's still flowing very strong. You can see it.
00:08And this is Goat Creek. It should be Goat River.
00:13But when eight feet of water rushed through his Brevard County home,
00:17Bruce faced a terrifying choice. Save what he owned or save who he loved.
00:22I didn't have five minutes to spare.
00:24I grabbed Max, but I seen the current and he, if he would have came out the door,
00:30he would have been washed away.
00:31So I grabbed him, got out of here, and my truck was going sideways from the current.
00:37In just minutes, the water had turned his home and his life upside down.
00:42So many homes rest along the waterways in Southern Brevard County.
00:46This is the Indian River Lagoon, which actually dumps into Goat Creek,
00:50which is where Bruce's home is.
00:51In Brevard County alone, more than 2,000 homes were damaged after parts of the county
00:56saw nearly two feet of rain in just two days.
01:00And at the start of Florida's dry season, for Bruce, there's no insurance,
01:05little savings, and a lifetime of belongings gone.
01:08I have no insurance. Whatever happens, I mean, it's in God's hands now.
01:13Even in the aftermath, Bruce has found reasons to be thankful.
01:17He says, you're coming with me. And his mom even fixed me dinner.
01:21He fixed me breakfast. I mean, can't get better than that.
01:24And so Max and I have a safe place until we figure something out.
01:28Ashley Towns, who also lost her home to the flood,
01:31has started a fundraiser to help her neighbor get back on his feet.
01:35Oh, you're going to make me cry.
01:36He has barely anything to his name. He's always bringing us food.
01:40But Bruce is already looking ahead, planning a safer home above future floodwaters.
01:47I want to clear this out and build a stilt home.
01:49Because if it comes again and you're 10 feet up, stilts, you're safe.
01:55For Bruce Johnson, survival has never been just about what you manage to save.
02:00Sometimes it's about what you refuse to lose.
02:03Whenever I start to break down, I just go to God.
02:07I don't ask him for strength or patience.
02:09In Valkaria, Florida, I ask him for grace and peace.
02:14I'm Leslie Hudson for AccuWeather.
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