'What else can you do?' Woman who used bucket to get floodwater out of Santa Fe home was helping daughter in-law

SANTA FE, Texas (KTRK) -- It was a long night for some residents in Santa Fe. As the storm pounded Galveston County, water in the creeks and bayous started to rise.

On E. Street, people moved their cars and trucks to higher ground and hoped their homes wouldn't flood.

Madi Elkins and her mother-in-law, Marcella Pantalion, did more than just hope.

Pantalion grabbed a bucket.

Standing by her daughter-in-law's bedroom, Pantalion filled that three-gallon bucket with floodwater, leaned out of a window and dumped it. She did this over and over.

RAW: Santa Fe woman faces flood with hope and a bucket

BAILING OUT WATER: A homeowner with a bucket tried clearing water from her home after severe storms struck Santa Fe.

Video of Pantalion we posted online had a lot of you talking. We went back to the house this morning to check on the damage.

Elkins showed Eyewitness News how the water rushed in through the kitchen and the crack under the front door. Every room in the house flooded. The water rose about four inches, she said.

"We swept it until it was all out. The water went down pretty quick," said Elkins.

DRYING OUT: What Elkins' home looks like inside after the flooding

Go inside the house where a woman used a bucket to get floodwater out of her home.

Pantalion was at work. But Elkins says her mother-in-law grabbed the bucket because they couldn't just sit there and watch it happen.

"[We were] overwhelmed. Not really knowing what else to do," Elkins said.

Pantalion climbed in through the bedroom window when she arrived to help Wednesday night. The water was knee-high, Elkins said.

As for our video of Pantalion that's circulating online, Elkins says Pantalion has had a good laugh.

"She's at work right now dying because she wants to be here so bad," Elkins said. "She is the person who comes over and helps me fix things. She knows how to do everything."

Fans in Elkins' house are drying out the floors and walls. She plans to rip down the sheetrock and baseboard later today. Elkins doesn't have flood insurance. She's still trying to figure out what's been destroyed and what she can save.

"What else can you do?" she said.

Follow Courtney Fischer on Facebook and Twitter.