A United States Coast Guard rescue swimmer from New Jersey is being called a hero after rescuing nearly 200 people following flash floods in Central Texas over the July 4 weekend.
"United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskin (Ruskan), directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas,” Noem said on X. “This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene. Scott Ruskin is an American hero. His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the @USCG.”
Ruskan said in an interview on "Fox and Friends" that they were in the air when they saw a huge crowd of about 200 kids at a campsite. That is how they decided to focus on Camp Mystic.
"Yeah, as far as right now, we’ve been getting our tasks from higher above mostly from the Army as of right now,” he told Fox. “But a lot of it has just been large state triages, so we were at Mystic yesterday for a long period of time. We probably got about 200 people out of there alone, and it was just, yeah, we just saw a huge crowd, about 200 kids at a campsite. So, we're like, cool that's where we're gonna go, and we're just gonna get as many people out as we can until they're all gone.”
Kerr County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post on Sunday that as of 1:30 p.m. on July 6, more than 68 deceased people have been recovered
In that county. By Monday morning, the number had climbed to 80 dead and some 40 still missing, making it one of the deadliest floods in American history.
Camp Mystic said 27 campers and counselors were killed in the flooding on the Guadalupe River. “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement on its website on Monday morning, via The New York Times.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with a full response from local, state, and national first responders.
"We continue to have hundreds of officers, deputies, and support staff working every aspect of this emergency, along with air, water, K9, and other assets conducting search and rescue," the post reads.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.