A US Coast Guard rescuer has been hailed as an “American hero” by the Trump administration after he saved 165 people from extreme floods in Texas.
Scott Ruskan, 26, a helicopter rescue swimmer from New Jersey, was praised for his life-saving efforts after he was deployed on his first mission to evacuate children from Camp Mystic in Texas. At least 82 people died after thunderstorms caused the Guadalupe River to surge Friday.
Ruskan, who was given the role of triage at the scene, leapt into action and was seen on video being airlifted from the roof of a building submerged in deep flood water, reports the New York Post.
He told the Post: “This is what it’s all about, right? Like, this is why we do the job.
“This is why we take those risks all the time. This is why like Coast Guard men and women are risking their lives every day.”
On Monday, Camp Mystic confirmed that 27 campers and counsellors had died in the floods.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement.
Established in 1926, Camp Mystic is a private Christian summer camp for girls that is located on the banks of the Guadalupe River and 18 miles northwest of Kerrville, Texas.
Close to 200 people, including campers and staff members, needed to be evacuated from the site Friday, said officials.
Homeland secretary Kristi Noem, who visited Texas Saturday, identified the rescuer by name in a social media post.
She wrote on X: “United States Coast Guard rescue swimmer and petty officer Scott Ruskan, directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas. This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene. Scott Ruskan is an American hero.”
The guardsman has been serving in the USCG for over three years, after working as an audit intern for KPMG, according to the Post.
Since November, he had been working on call after completing his training as a helicopter swimmer, where he familiarized himself with the Coast Guard’s MH-65 helicopter and took up additional rescue swimming classes ahead of being called into action.
His moment finally came Friday morning, when he and other rescuers scrambled into Blackhawk 60 and Coast Guard MH-65 choppers near Hunt, Texas, to save the camp.
National Weather Service officials say more storms are expected to strike Texas Monday, possibly bringing even further devastation.
President Donald Trump declared the floods a major disaster for Kerr County on Sunday, calling the scenes “absolutely horrible”.
His administration has come under intense scrutiny for the tragedy following a wave of cuts to the National Weather Service and Trump’s anti-climate-change stance.
