'It's not over for us': US coast guard saves 165 lives in Texas flash floods; hailed as 'American hero'

A US coast guard rescue swimmer is being hailed as an “American hero” after saving 165 lives during his first-ever mission, a response to deadly flash flooding in Texas that has claimed the lives of at least 82 people, with many still unaccounted for.Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem praised the mission online, calling Scott Ruskan an “American hero” whose courage “embodies the spirit and mission of the Coast Guard.”But Ruskan quickly shared the credit. “Honestly, I’m mostly just a dude. I’m just doing a job,” he said. “Whoever it may be, would have done the exact same thing in our situation."

Scott Ruskan, 26, a New Jersey native and former accountant, had only recently completed his coast guard training when he was called into action on the fourth of July.“This is what it’s all about, right? Like, this is why we do the job,” said Ruskan as quoted by The New York Post. “This is why like Coast Guard men and women, are risking their lives every day.”Ruskan, who grew up in Oxford, New Jersey, enlisted in 2021. After finishing basic training and Aviation Survival Technician school in California, he was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas. He had been training and preparing since November, waiting for a mission that finally came during the holiday weekend.

Texas Task Force 1, a partnership between the Texas army national guard and Texas A&M, contacted the coast guard asking for urgent help.“That’s a little bit outside our area of operation normally, but people were in danger, and we’re a good asset to try and help people out, and these guys were asking for help, so that’s kind of what we do,” said Ruskan.By early Friday, coast guard MH-65 and Army Blackhawk helicopters were in the air headed to Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp hit hard by the floods.

Five young campers, ages 8 and 9, were confirmed dead. A counselor and 11 more girls were still missing.With limited space in the helicopters, the rescue crew decided to leave Ruskan on the ground to direct the triage operation. He helped guide choppers to pockets of survivors, tended to the injured, and tried to comfort cold, frightened children and adults still in pajamas after fleeing their bunks overnight.Over several hours, Ruskan worked through the chaos to help evacuate 165 people to safety.“So 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 it’s still super sad,” he said. “There’s still a lot of people missing and unaccounted for, so the mission’s not over yet. It’s not over for us.”