They lived at their house near the river with their children and Ryan’s mother.

“He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed,” Ryan’s sister, Connie Salas, said.

Wilson said that within 20 minutes, the water was up to their knees in the house.

“It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in. We went back to the room and started calling 911,” Wilson said.

“He is the hero in this story,” Salas said.

“When they said my brother was dying, they should have went to him first. That’s how I see it,” Joseph Rounsley said.

Ryan’s best friend remembered his buddy as a gentle soul.

Now, Wilson, Salas, Rounsley and Roberts stand together, saying more needs to be implemented to avoid anything like this from ever happening again. They believe flood sirens could have saved lives.

“Everybody would’ve been worried — what’s that noise?” Wilson said. “We would have left. We would have gone anywhere else. We had so many places that were safe.”