Homeless Man Rescues 30 Dogs During Mississippi Flood

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On September 6, 2022, the Pearl River in Jackson, Mississippi, overflowed after record rainfall, forcing the city to issue urgent evacuation orders. While residents fled to safety, one man stayed behind—without even realizing what was happening.

Michael Harris, 57, a homeless man living on the third floor of an abandoned parking garage, awoke to sirens and the sound of rushing water below. From his vantage point, he could see the floodwaters rising, but what caught his attention were the cries—sharp, panicked barks cutting through the chaos.

Dogs had been left behind.

Instead of panicking, Harris acted. He climbed down into the waist-deep water, searching through flooded streets and abandoned yards. With nothing but determination, he pulled frightened dogs into shopping carts and makeshift rafts. He tied leashes to his belt to keep them close, guiding them back to the higher, drier levels of the garage he called home.

Hour after hour, he returned to the water. Each bark led him to another animal. Some were stranded on porches, others clung to fences or debris. By the time the city’s rescue teams finally reached the garage three days later, Harris was exhausted and shivering—but alive. And so were thirty dogs.

The rescuers found him surrounded by wagging tails and tired eyes, animals who owed their survival to a man who had nothing, yet risked everything.

For Michael Harris, there had been no question. “They needed me,” he later told volunteers. “I couldn’t just leave them.”

In the middle of disaster, one man with no home became the protector of thirty who might have lost theirs forever.