Ankle-deep water had already covered the basement floor of the Valle family home on Wednesday before the unthinkable happened: Ida’s floodwaters broke through a wall and trapped half of the family downstairs.

The collapse of the basement wall, caught by a security camera inside, could have been deadly to a Janice Valle and one of her sons. In a matter of seconds, the wall of water had filled the entire basement and trapped both of them in different parts of the basement.

The son seen in the shocking camera footage made it to the basements steps safely and escaped the flooding without injury. He and the rest of his family had already been trying to empty the basement of the minor flooding before the situation became unimaginable.

The collapse of the basement wall caught on video has become a life-changing moment for this family, all four members of which have fared differently if the water and come any sooner.