VIDEO: New Mexico couple, pets wait for rescue on flooded Roswell porch Saturday

ROSWELL, NM – A couple in Roswell, New Mexico narrowly escaped tragedy after their home was destroyed by catastrophic flooding over the weekend.

Chaser Dean Harper and his wife were trapped on their porch and had to seek shelter with their two dogs, two cats, four snakes and a lizard as the water rose Saturday.

“The back wall of the house… I’m pretty sure it collapsed. The car floated away. The inside of the house is a river,” Harper said in a video he recorded (above) that shows the desperate scene of the overwhelming force of the floodwaters. “We’re trapped on the porch with all the animals with us.”

AT LEAST TWO DEAD IN ROSWELL AFTER record rain caused devastating flooding in New Mexico

Footage taken by Roswell-based chaser Dean Harper shows him, his wife, their two dogs, two cats, four snakes and a lizard waiting for rescue on the porch of their flooded home.

(Chaser Dean Harper via Storyful)

According to Harper, the Roswell Fire Department arrived four hours later to rescue the stranded family.

“Everything we own is gone,” he said.

The record-breaking event began Friday and continued through Sunday due to a slow-moving, upper-level low pressure system over the Four Corners region southwestsaid the FOX Forecast Center.

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Saturday night's storms repeatedly devastated the same areas, dropping up to 3 inches of rain per hour. Numerous roads in Roswell remain closed Monday after the city received a staggering amount of rain equivalent to half a year's worth of rain in just a single weekend.

The flooding claimed two lives and rescued nearly 300 people from impassable and flooded roads.

Among those trapped was Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington, who described the unfolding situation on Facebook.

“At this point I’m sitting on the roof of my police truck,” he said in an interview video on Facebook. “At this point, I’m completely surrounded by water.”

The FOX Forecast Center confirmed that a staggering 5.78 inches of rain fell at Roswell Airport on Saturday. This surpasses the previous wettest day on record of 5.65 inches on November 1, 1901.