The foundation of George Musko's home at 524 W. Brady St. partially collapsed in Wednesday night's flooding. Overflow from Sullivan Run was strong enough to move cars and swamp residences. Much of the neighborhood was left covered in mud.

As cleanup and damage assessments on Butler's West End began in earnest Thursday morning, residents began to share stories of how they weathered a vicious thunderstorm and flash flood that inundated homes and businesses with water and mud Wednesday night.

Some residents of the neighborhood that includes West Brady Street said they couldn't even return home late Wednesday as flood water raged, moving cars and swamping homes near Sullivan Run.

Leah and Aaron Kobert, of 515 W. Brady, were driving home from a relative's house when they found a wall of water — or a lake; it depends on whom you ask — waiting for them.

The Koberts couldn't drive through the water, so they pulled into the parking lot of nearby Family Video to decide their next step. Ultimately Leah — worried about her car and whether their home was in danger — decided to make for their house on foot.

What started out as a walk through waist-high water however, quickly became a dangerous swim through debris-choked floodwater.

“I was swimming through it. Swimming,” she said. “The water's just coming and coming — the next thing you know, cars (are) getting washed away. I never seen nothing like it in my life.”

Down the street from the Koberts, Amanda Coester's house at 526 W. Brady was inundated with water that nearly made its way from the basement into the kitchen. Outside, Coester's friends, Antoine Pollard and Dylan Folk, were rushing to help rescue the occupants of an SUV that had become trapped at the intersection of West Brady Street and Mitchell Avenue. With the water rising as high as the vehicle's hood, Kobert — still swimming for her own home — watched as the men pulled three people, one of whom Coester said was a 3-month-old child, to safety. They sheltered in her house for a time, as the flood raged outside.

Taking stock of the damage on Thursday, Coester said her own car was ruined by the flood, but she was thankful no one was hurt.

“Everyone was safe, and that's all that matters,” she said.

Still, Coester marveled at the speed and power with which the flood turned her street into a river.

“I grew up in Florida, so I've been through hurricanes, and I've never seen flooding like this,” Coester said.

Another person involved in the rescue at Mitchell Avenue was Matt Williams of 544 W. Brady, whose house took on about nine feet of water Wednesday night. The pressure from the rising water was so great that it either forced open basement windows or broke them out entirely, sweeping toys, food and other items out into the street and yard. Williams said he expects to have to find alternative lodging for his wife, Brandy, and their 6-year-old son, Bentley, for at least a couple weeks as cleanup work takes place.

“It's stuff you see on natural disaster (shows) on TV,” Williams said. “It (the street) was just like one big lake.”