Gov. Ron DeSantis deployed three rescue teams to Kerrville, Texas over the weekend to help respond to historic flooding that killed at least 89 people and left dozens missing.
The Florida Department of Emergency Management sent three swiftwater rescue teams to Kerrville, a town with just over 20,000 people an hour northwest of San Antonio, DeSantis announced Sunday. The response comes days after the 230-mile Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, killing 40 adults and 28 children in Kerr County alone.
"Florida will support Texas following the catastrophic flooding in Kerrville and the surrounding areas," DeSantis posted to social media on Sunday, two days after the flash flooding began. "At my direction [FDEM] is deploying three swiftwater rescue teams through an [Emergency Management Assistance Compact] to assist with response and recovery."
The Florida aid totals 15 people and four boats, DeSantis's office confirmed to The Floridian.
"We’re standing by to lend more help as requested," he added. An EMAC is a mutual aid agreement among states allowing them to share resources during disasters.
Florida has a lengthy track record in both receiving help and assisting other states during natural disasters. In the past year, other states lent the Sunshine State emergency linemen ahead of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in September.
In turn, Florida deployed search and rescue teams—including Chinook helicopters—to North Carolina when Helene's bands kicked off catastrophic flooding in rural areas.
Officials warned of flash flooding in the days leading up to July 4, with each warning becoming more urgent of "emergency" and "particularly dangerous" conditions. Evacuations began around 7 a.m. and officials reported "multiple fatalities" three hours later. In places, water rose 40 feet above the streambed, making it the area's highest flood on record.
Unfortunately, the worst conditions had yet to be discovered.
An all-girls Christian summer camp, Camp Mystic, was hosting over 750 young girls at the time. The cabins with the youngest children, around 8 years old, were right along the Guadalupe's edge. 27 of those campers and counselors have been pronounced dead, while 11 others—10 campers and 1 counselor—are still missing.
President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for Texas on Sunday, freeing up much-needed federal aid to the waterlogged counties. Trump said that Coast Guard officials and Texas first responders had saved over 850 people from the floodwaters.
David Lawrence, the founder of The Children's Movement of Florida and a man who dedicated his life to helping kids, lost his twin eight-year-old granddaughters in the flood, The Miami Herald reported. Other horror stories recount a man who bled out smashing a window to save his fiancée and children, and a young girl sobbing about her friend who drowned.
As grief overwhelms, tales of heroic men and women emerge, too.
A camp counselor who single-handedly saved 14 young campers. A camp director who sacrificed himself to save his campers. A Coast Guard serviceman who rescued 165 people in just one day.
