Flash floods have taken a devastating toll in Texas, where US Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan is being hailed as an American hero after rescuing 165 victims on his first mission.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, flash flooding hit central Texas, creating dangerous conditions. The Guadalupe River in the state rose more than 20 to 26 feet (approximately 6.1 to 7.9 meters) in 90 minutes, causing extensive damage and forcing evacuations.
More than 80 people have lost their lives in flash floods, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued flood warnings across Texas, according to the Associated Press, many of which are expected to last until at least Monday morning.
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Petty Officer Ruskan, 26, is a New Jersey resident and an accountant at KPMG. Ruskan, who is currently trending, joined the US Coast Guard in 2021 and was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, after completing training as a rescue swimmer.
Ruskan was in charge of triage at Camp Mystic, a summer camp that housed 700 girls during the Guadalupe River flash flood, according to Newsweek.
The mission to rescue flash flood victims involved extensive mutual effort between the Coast Guard, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Air National Guard (ANG), and Texas Task Force 1 (TX-TF1), an urban search and rescue task force from FEMA, according to Newsweek.
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โThatโs a little bit outside our area of operation normally, but people were in danger, and weโre a good asset to try and help people out, and these guys were asking for help, so thatโs kind of what we do,โ Coast Guard rescue swimmer Ruskan told the media.
Ruskan helped lead a rescue operation during the natural disaster that ultimately evacuated 165 people from dangerous areas to safety.
โSo we basically got the majority of the people out of Camp Mystic, which is awesome. And I feel like we did a lot of good that day, but obviously itโs still super sad,โ Ruskan said.
He also said that many people are still missing and unaccounted for, so the operation is not over yet.
Ruskan has been praised across social media after rescuing flood victims, including Homeland Security official Kristi Noem, who praised Ruskanโs efforts in a post on social media platform X.