Pastor braves dangerous flood waters to rescue floating coffin

The flooding was caused by Hurricance Joaquin which has killed 11 people in South Carolina. That family is suffering.

“I waited all day and nobody did anything, so I decided – out of respect for this family – I would do whatever’s necessary”, Reeves told NBC News-affiliate WCBD.

Defying police orders, a South Carolina pastor waded through dirty foul-smelling floodwater in Ridgeville, South Carolina, on Monday to retrieve a floating casket that was swept from a flooded cemetery.

Photos show the pastor wearing flood boots and wading into the water to retrieve the white casket that was floating with a bouquet of flowers placed on its top.

Family members watched from the roadway, as the pastor and another man pulled the casket to dry ground.

“If that was my mom or my dad, I’d walk through h*ll and high water… and today it happened to be high water”, he told WCBD-TV.

“This family don’t want to sit out here on the edge of this road all night long, watching their family members bob in the water out there”, he added. With the body being out there so long and the water has been rising since Sunday, we just said, ‘Lord cover him, ‘ and you know he wasn’t afraid. “That’s just not who we are”, Reeves said.

The county sheriff’s later found a second casket. “So God sent him out there, and it’s very compassionate”.

Family members said that the two caskets belonged to a husband and wife and that – once waters return to normal levels – the couple will be set back in their original place of rest.

“I’m going to go home and take a hot bath and wash off with a little bleach and it will take care of that, but this family is already hurt”.