They thought he was dead but a year later, his cat came back after getting lost in a storm.

A family from Montecito, California, was surprised when they met their beloved cat Diamonhe had disappeared for 475 days.

The family evacuated their home in January 2018 after receiving a storm warning, the danger of the weather phenomenon was such that they had to leave in haste and They did not have time to gather their two cats, Diamond and Huguette.

The last time the Strogoff family saw Diamond, it was a day before the deadly storm exactly crossed Montecito and destroyed its property and surrounding neighborhood in January 2018.

The family decided to evacuate their home when warnings about the impending storm arrived. When they returned home a few days later to badess the damage to their property, they could not find their pets anywhere.

"I did not know what was going to happen and I thought everything would be okay, and when we came back we could not find them," Mother Noelle Strogoff told local TV channel Keyt Tv.

Alexander, Benjamin and Violet Strogoff, 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins, loved Diamond because she "is very quiet and plays with them like a dog," said her mother Noelle.

The family had to move for a year until their property was repaired. They returned home in January 2019but they have always missed their pets.

On Monday, Noelle was talking to a worker who was helping her with some renovations. when he decided to talk to him about his cat, Diamond.

L & # 39; man, who did not want to be identified, he told Noelle that his description matches that of a cat that was feeding for quite a while They took out their mobile phones and compared photos.

"Twenty minutes later, I'm at home and I think Diamond is fine," he said.

Diamond, who turns 3 years old in July, has been living for more than a year, just a few blocks away.. He had survived thanks to the food that foreigners had occasionally given him.

Noelle said that she believes that this story reminds us never to lose hope and that miracles happen.

"Do not give up, keep looking, just talk to people and express what you are looking for," he said.

The other family cat, Huguette, is still missing.

People who see domestic animals that do not seem to have a home are asked to take a picture and share it on Facebook or with Humane Society.

Noelle also urged the people of Montecito to keep their eyes and hearts open as they search for the remains of two children killed in the avalanche: Lydia Sutthithepa, 2, and Jack Cantin, 17.

The heavy rains caused a mud mud that destroyed his house, leaving 21 dead and more than 150 hospitalized.