Texas Man Built Giant “Wall” Around His Home, But Then He Got The Last Laugh

While record-breaking storms swept across Brazoria County, Texas, local Randy Wagner felt helpless. The heavy wind and rain just wouldn’t quit, and all he could do was watch as it wreaked havoc on his town. But then Randy had an idea. It wouldn’t be cheap, and it was unorthodox (to say the least) — but he would prove his neighbors wrong.

Close-knit community

Randy, a family man, lives in Rosharon, Texas — also known as “Buttermilk Station.” With a population of just 1,401, it's a pretty tight-knit community; the type where everyone knows their neighbors and each other's business. So when Randy started talking about his strange idea, word spread fast.

A year to remember

It would have been fine if Randy’s town had received the normal amount of rain in 2016, but Mother Nature had had other plans. The whole county — which sits on the Gulf Coast — typically gets about four inches of rainfall. But that year, the weather would prove to be a lot more dramatic. And it would call for a dramatic solution.

Everyone was on edge

After the town saw heavy flooding in May of that year, huge portions of the roads in the area were already well eroded. Plus, the Brazos River Authority went on to predict more storms, with floods set to reach even greater heights. Reports even suggested that the Brazos River could peak at 53 and a half feet. So residents such as Randy were naturally on edge. It would certainly mean floods.

Stopping at nothing

Ahead of the next wave of storms, Randy found the idea of having to move his loved ones away from the area “heartbreaking.” There was probably nothing this resourceful man wouldn’t have done to shield his home and brood from danger — even if it may have seemed a little “crazy” to outsiders.

Research

Randy had to do all he could to safeguard his home, so he got to work scouring the internet to find out all the possible options available to him. There must be a solution out there — and one that would cost far less than the repairs needed after potential flood damage. After all, the goal is just to keep the water out, right? It couldn't be that hard...

A possible solution

While researching, Randy did indeed discover a potential solution. He’d come across a bizarre contraption online — one that he knew was going to get him a lot of attention in the neighborhood. But, quite frankly, that was probably the least of the family man’s worries.

Pros and cons

Randy likely knew that buying this contraption would be a risk. He would have to weigh up the pros and cons. Not only was it relatively expensive, but it also seemed like a lot of effort to install. With the floods well and truly on their way, though, Randy didn’t have much time to mull it over.

Leap of faith

So Randy made the trip to Louisiana to buy the device that he hoped would be the solution. And when he returned home, he roped in two pals to help him set it up. This wouldn’t be something he’d be able to do by himself.

A laughing stock

His neighbors, meanwhile, probably looked on in befuddled amusement as the giant contraption began to take form. Apparently, many of them had opted to go for the more traditional method of staving off water: sandbags. “I was the crazy guy. Everybody was kind of going by, laughing at me…” Randy would tell Houston TV station KHOU back in 2016.

Predicting the unknown

Still, while locals gawked at him as though he’d finally lost the plot, Randy persevered with his two workhorse buddies. “To not know what that level was going to stop at, I needed to prepare for something that no one has seen,” he recalled to KHOU, referring to the water level.

Taking shape

After several hours of work, the device on which Randy was pinning all of his hopes was beginning to take shape. It looked like a huge black snake running around the outside of his house. In reality, though, it was simply hundreds of feet of 30-inch-high plastic tubing pumped with water. Was this really going to work?

Hoping and praying

In previous weeks, there had been talk of floods in the area potentially reaching levels only seen during the flooding of 1957. Randy's device, which is called an AquaDam, was allegedly capable of holding back two feet of water. He hoped and prayed that this promise — and his house — would hold up.

Looking on in fear

As the rain began to fall, then, it was now time for Randy's “crazy” AquaDam to be put to the test. The homeowner and his family were probably watching on in fear as the water levels climbed higher and higher. Perhaps the AquaDam wasn’t enough to hold back the raging forces of nature. Maybe it would burst, even!

Getting higher

As the storm continued to bash against the windows, anxiety likely permeated the air. Unbeknownst to Randy at the time, though, the waters were actually exceeding that 24-inch AquaDam guaranteed limit and had reached a startling 27-inch height.

Military aid

Within the greater Rosharon community, neighbors and neighboring quarters weren’t faring so well. In parts of the area, involuntary displacements were called. Military vehicles had to be dispatched to assist, as the Brazoria river was waging its war against residents. The same residents who’d previously laughed at Randy's plan!

Randy's house

After a rough spell — which saw trees battered and nerves frayed — the rain eventually eased up. But would the AquaDam save the day and a gumboot-clad Randy emerge a heroic genius? Or would his worries be realized as the floodwater rose, impinging on his home? The man of the house would have to prepare himself for the worst.

A sigh of relief

Randy inspected his home and, to his likely relief, found that the AquaDam had done its job! This amazing invention had kept the water from the flood at bay — blocking him, his family, and his beloved home from harm. “I think God had a hand in it. He put me on the right website at the right time and gave me the warning that I needed to act,” he would later tell sources.

Randy's neighbors

While other families in the county bore some grim fallout from the storm, Randy and his clan were spared — and apparently, so were their possessions. Their neighbors, meanwhile, faced the challenge of fixing all the damage that had occurred. And by the looks of it, there was a lot...

A worthy investment

Homes were cleared out in their thousands owing to the monster flood. And while the resourceful Texan had shelled out $8,300 for that AquaDam, it was a minor expenditure compared to the $150,000 he might have needed to dole out if his house had been flooded. It also saved him and his family the grief and pain of being displaced. And it taught neighbors a valuable lesson.

No longer the “crazy guy”

Once the joke of the town, Randy became the talk of the town and of the internet for his smart thinking. The “crazy guy” — as Randy called himself — had been right in the end. After enduring snickers from other locals, he would later tell KHOU, “Today they are really impressed with this AquaDam.” But there’s another moral to the story...

Number one fan

Randy also now seems to really trust himself, realizing that his intuition was correct in guiding him to make “the right decisions to be made during that week.” He also speaks glowingly of the AquaDam, having even suggested to KHOU that “emergency management could use it.” He added, “I remember when Addicks Reservoir was going over Highway 6. It could’ve been used.” As we know, most of Randy’s neighbors turned to sandbags — a method in which many experts have found flaws.

Drawbacks

Craig Fugate, formerly of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Tampa Bay Times in 2017 why using sandbags can be problematic. “This is a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of prep,” he said. “Just putting a few sandbags in front of your door — if you’re talking more than just a couple inches of water – it isn’t going to stop it.”

Invaluable advice

Fugate then went on to offer residents some advice on how best to use sandbags. “To do it most effectively, you’ve got to completely seal off all the ways that water can get into your foundation and through the ground floor,” he continued. “What the average person needs is far beyond the number of bags that you’re going to get from most of these centers.”

Bad news for wooden homes

And while those living in concrete houses apparently had better chances of defending themselves, Fugate had some bad news for people in wooden homes. “With wood, [sandbags are] not going to help much,” he told the newspaper. “The minute that water gets over, around, or through those sandbags, then those sandbags aren’t going to fix much.”

Tips

“Stack stuff as high as you can,” Fugate said. “Take your papers, pack your bags and be ready to evacuate. [And] If you need to evacuate, don’t waste your time putting out sandbags.”

An interesting alternative

But another storm expert had an alternative method he’d recommend — one that’s more in line with the aim of the AquaDam. Yes, Texas-based Edward Obediah Sweat took to Facebook after 2017’s Hurricane Harvey had turned Texas upside down to offer a bit of help. Few could’ve predicted, though, just how unique his trick would be.

Managing the damage

“To my Florida friends and family,” Sweat wrote on Facebook in September 2017. “[Here are] some things that I learned about hurricane damage management. Plastic bags filled with [a third of] water make good substitutes for sandbags at doorways.” And along with this nugget of survival information, the former Jacksonville resident also revealed a few more tips in his post.

Elevate furniture

“Paint cans or five gallon buckets can support and elevate your furniture if you are going to get water in your house,” Sweat continued. “Wear clothes to bed. Nothing looks worse than seeing people on the news in waterlogged nightgowns and boxer shorts. Plus, it is helpful [when you’re] slogging through the water at night,” he reasoned.

Grave warning

After this, Sweat made a serious point regarding the plugs and sockets around people’s homes. “If you get water up to your electrical outlets, or you evacuate, trip the main breaker,” he cautioned. “A volunteer was electrocuted and died here walking in knee-deep water due to [the] power being on at a house he was going to check on.”

The correct attire

And Sweat added some last crucial pieces of advice before wrapping up his post. “Wear hard-soled shoes and gloves if you wade in water,” the Texas resident wrote on Facebook. Then, he added, “Use duct tape to seal your garage door to the floor to prevent water intrusion.”

What you should carry at all times

“Everyone should have an I.D., a whistle and a flashlight on them once the rain comes,” Sweat also wrote. “Have a queen- or king-sized white, flat sheet to signal for help from boats and helicopters. Map out a couple of escape paths, [and] leave [your house] before these become flooded.”