Coast Guardsman’s ‘selfless courage’ saves lives in Texas floods

When flash floods swept through the Texas Hill Country in July, Coast Guard Petty Officer Third Class Scott Ruskan’s team flew through dangerous weather to help. Their efforts are credited with saving 165 people from the catastrophic flooding that hit Texas on Independence Day. Yet Ruskan says he only did what others would have done in the same situation.

When the team arrived at Camp Mystic at the epicenter of the flooding that killed over 100 people and left others missing, Ruskan left the helicopter and coordinated rescue efforts from the ground. He administered aid and prepared people at the girls’ camp near Hunt, Texas, for evacuation.

“I was just trying to be a voice of calm and triage these people and get them to safety as soon as we could,” Ruskan, a New Jersey native, told Fox 7 News in Austin.

In a visit to Texas, President Trump paid tribute to the “unity and competence” of the rescue effort, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem awarded medals to Ruskan and the other members of his team for their heroism.

“The selfless courage of this crew embodies the spirit and mission of the U.S. Coast Guard,” Noem said.

Ruskan’s team was one of numerous crews that have responded to the rescue and recovery effort. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, whose wife Suzanne and other family members were rescued from the floods, is among the state and federal leaders who sent rescue teams to Texas. A water rescue team from Acuña, Mexico, also joined in the effort.

The United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group that formed in Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, also assisted.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other American rescue teams respond to disasters across the U.S. and the globe. Virginia’s Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department conducted rescues after devastating earthquakes in Türkiye in February 2023 and in Nepal in April 2015.

The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated injured people after an earthquake struck Haiti in August 2021 and rescued 400 people in The Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.