08-07-2025
SC search and rescue team headed to Texas to help find flood victims
Search and recovery workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding at Camp Mystic on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas. (Photo by)
COLUMBIA — A team of five people and two dogs trained in disaster response will travel to Texas to help locate people swept away during last weekend's floods, Gov. Henry McMaster's office said Tuesday.
More than 100 people, including 30 children, were killed when rivers in the Texas hills flooded over the weekend, inundating a girls' summer camp along with nearby homes. At least 25 people remained missing as of Monday, though the total number unaccounted for was still unclear, The Texas Tribune reported.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked McMaster for the state's help in a Monday phone call, according to the South Carolina governor's office. McMaster obliged, deploying a specialized team from South Carolina Task Force 1, which is trained to find and, when possible, help people in all sorts of disaster scenarios.
The team includes two K-9s trained in detecting human remains through Greenville nonprofit Foothills Search and Rescue.
'Team South Carolina stands ready to offer any support we can,' McMaster said in a statement. 'In some of our toughest moments, the people of Texas were there for us. Now, it's our duty to return that support and stand by our friends in their time of need.'
Last year, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department employees traveled to South Carolina to help clean up debris left behind when Helene swept through the state as a tropical storm.
A federal mutual aid system called the emergency Management Assistance Compact helped coordinate the effort. South Carolina has long participated in the program and sends teams to help wherever disaster strikes, said Kim Stenson, director of the state's Emergency Management Division.
'Over the years, we've helped coordinate assistance for incidents in Kentucky, Florida, California, Alaska, and now Texas,' Stenson said in a statement. 'Our emergency response community stands ready and capable of answering the call when help is needed.'
