While celebrating his son’s high school graduation with a whirlwind tour of Europe, Rob Lowe and his family had to be rescued early Wednesday after floodwaters engulfed their vacation home in Grasse, France.

The actor took to social media to post images of the scary scene. “This is right outside the house. Was twice as high at the worst, just before sunrise,” the 50-year-old captioned the below photo.

rob lowe

Rob’s son Johnny also shared a picture of the muddied water, writing, “Thank you to the fireman that saved us from this nightmare. Happy for us all to be safe, thoughts to others.”

rob lowe

Local officials say the lowest-lying areas were under as much as five feet of water, with one rescue official calling it the “biggest storm of the year.”

“There’s only one rescue station in Grasse, and this storm required assistance from several other regional units,” the official told People magazine. “We were called out on a lot of emergency rescues yesterday.”