KERR COUNTY, Texas — The death toll after the deadly Texas floods continued to rise on Monday after a river cascaded through a campsite filled with sleeping children.
Ten children and one counselor are still missing as the round-the-clock search and rescue mission continues. Much of the destruction in Kerr County, Texas, happened in the dead of night.
U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan was lowered to the scene by helicopter.
“I got on scene, boots on the ground, Camp Mystic and discovered I was the only person there as far as first responders go, I had 200 kids terrified, scared cold,” Ruskan said.
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The New Jersey native is credited with saving 165 victims from the Christian girls’ camp along the Guadalupe River. It was his first mission.
He moved them to higher ground, where they were evacuated.
“The real heroes are the kids on the ground, those guys are heroic, dealing with the worst time of their lives and staying strong, that inspired me to get in there and help them out,” Ruskan said.
Scott Ruskan speaks out after saving nearly 200 people from Camp Mystic in Texas.
But the camp lost a staggering 27 campers and counselors. And some are still unaccounted for.
Crews from 20 agencies are still searching, using boats, dogs, drones, choppers and going by foot.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and others have questioned whether DOGE cuts impacted staffing at the National Weather Service and contributed to the massive death toll, but the weather service says appropriate warnings went out.
However, the most urgent ones came in the middle of the night and might not have been heeded.
“People were sleeping when the floods came, it’s an act of God, not the administration’s fault,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
President Donald Trump is expected to travel to central Texas to see the destruction and meet with families. He is tentatively scheduled to go on Friday.
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