When drone flyer Quavas Hart was taking shots of a flooded North Carolina neighborhood and posting them to social media, he thought he was surveying the damage that Hurricane Matthew had inflicted on the region.

He had no idea he was saving a disabled United States Navy veteran’s life. He had no idea that the brother of the former military man — who was was nearly drowning in waters reaching the second story of his home — was online, a thousand miles away, scanning the hashtag #HopeMills on Instagram. He had no idea he would, through sheer serendipity, pass along Hart’s handiwork, and make a vital discovery:

#DroneShot #HurricaneMatthew #HopeMills #Fayetteville

A photo posted by Director ???? (@imsofirst) on

The stranded Navy vet was Chris Williams. His brother? Craig. While sifting through Instagram, Craig was also on Facebook with Chris, keeping him company. Chris couldn’t reach emergency services, and was forced to watch the flood rise with his dog Lana by his side.

Through the Facebook’s messenger, Craig sent Chris the above Instagram photo as a joke, saying hey, at least one of the five inundated houses wasn’t his.

Chris shot back, however, and said actually … one of them was. The one on the right.

Craig, fearing for his brother’s life and desperate, took the only action he knew he could at the time. He tweeted at the man who took the photo, Hart.

Without a boat, Hart did the next best thing. He got a group that did: Federal Emergency Management (FEMA). They went ahead and rescued Chris and Lana and brought them to safety.

According to Craig, his brother has lost most of his belongings in the disaster, including all of his clothes, furniture and electronics. There’s also an estimated $40,000 worth of damage to his home.

On Monday, he sent out the following tweet, which includes a link where someone can donate to his brother’s cause, and help him get back on his feet.

Huffington Post