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Chicagoan Helps Rescue Sister In Texas Via Social Media

(CBS) -- A Chicago man used social media to get help for his sister near Houston as she was trapped on the second floor of her flooded-out home.

WBBM's Steve Miller reports.

Early yesterday, Donald Reynolds of Chicago saw a message from his Texas family that his sister's home was almost under water.

"Her entire first floor is gone," he says. "The garage, the truck, everything's under water and it was coming up to the second floor of her house."

So he went on Linked In and Twitter.

"I am in Chicago.  My sister needs help," he said. And he gave her address.

He says after several re-tweets and after four or five hours the Houston Fire Department showed up.

"They literally took the boat, my understanding, to the window.  And they got out the window on the second floor, with water coming in," he says.

Reynolds says he's not sure it was social media that did the trick.

In any case, he sent a thank-you to the Houston Fire Department.

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