KERR COUNTY, Texas – Dozens of rescue teams responded to the call for help after the July 4 flooding in Kerr County, including officers from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Game Wardens and the specialized air team.
Game Wardens Brent Biggs, Lt. Robert Mitchell and Jacob Crumpton were among the first helicopter teams to arrive in Kerr County, if only by a few minutes.
The team was involved in several rescues along the Guadalupe River. They helped people stuck in trees get to dry land.
They were also part of the team that rescued 36 of the 200 girls from Camp Mystic. The team was gracious enough to share their personal stories of what that day was like for them with KSAT 12 News.
TPWD Search and Rescue Team Swimmer Jacob Crumpton
Crumpton said he had recently been certified as a swimmer with the team when he got his first real-world rescue call on July 4.
“The very first rescue we did that day was a gentleman that was up in a tree about 20 feet,” Crumpton said.
Everything that morning was similar to what he had trained for, Crumpton said.
“I believe that day was about a 17-hour day,” he said.
“When you’re involving a pilot and a crew chief and a swimmer and a helicopter, cable and trees and power lines, you have to take that training serious all the time,” Crumpton continued. “And so, when we roll into situations like this, it’s just like we’ve prepared for it 100 times over.”
Lt. Game Warden Pilot Robert Mitchell
Mitchell has flying in his blood. He is a fourth-generation pilot. All the pilots in his family have served their country.
“I spent 23 years in the Marine Corps. The last 13 of those years, I was flying attack utility helicopters all over the world,” Mitchell said.
Flying in disasters is not new for Mitchell. Somehow, he said, the Kerr County disaster was different.
“One: the number of calls that we were getting,” Mitchell recalled. “And two: I’ve flown in some pretty bad weather — really, really bad weather, all over the world, all different environments. But the totality of the situation — with the weather, the floodwaters, the debris — this was the worst environment I’ve ever flown.”
Mitchell said knowing that there were no other helicopters involved in any rescues enhanced their resolve to get to the Guadalupe River, despite the risk. Getting people out of trees and performing those types of rescues was the initial priority, he said.
The team had information early on that the survivors at Camp Mystic were OK.
Later on that day, according to Mitchell, more helicopters arrived. Help came in the form of seven DPS helicopters and at least four National Guard helicopters.
Then is when the crew was able to break away to help at Camp Mystic.
“Brent Biggs and I just looked at each other. I don’t even think we talked. We just — we knew that we had to go into (Camp) Mystic,“ Mitchell said. ”That was probably the toughest part of the day because I have two little girls. And we just knew that we just needed to get them home.”
“Every time we loaded a group of girls into the aircraft, I made it a point to stop before I took off,” Mitchell continued. “I wasn’t able to say anything to them because they didn’t have communications on, but I’d look over my shoulder and smile and just let them know it was OK.”
Tactical Flight Officer Brent Biggs
Biggs gave the command to the pilot and tells him where to fly to get the swimmer safely up and down the hoist.
The flood disaster was personal for Biggs. He grew up and still lives in Kerrville
He told KSAT he was anxious to get there when he got the call.
“Our mapping system in the helicopter actually quit that morning when we took off,” Biggs said. “But luckily, you know, being my hometown, I was able to fly the roads to get back there. And, once we got there, the local knowledge really helped.”
Biggs did not know anyone personally who was killed in the flooding. However, he said friends of friends and friends of family, unfortunately, were.
Biggs said it was hard to see Camp Mystic in such devastation.
“I lifeguarded there, you know, a couple of times growing up on the river,” Biggs said. “You know, lifeguarding campers that were there swimming. So, it hit a little close to home.”
The team was there for about a week and a half, but he goes back home all the time.
“The hardest part isn’t, you know, right after. It’s not the week after, it’s not three weeks after. It’s, you know, three months from now,” Biggs said. “When you go back and you get to live in the environment and you see the devastation that’s still there. People (are) still hurting, trying to recover. And, so, it’s definitely a long process. And the hardest parts starts once everybody leaves, and there’s still work to be done.”
All three game wardens told KSAT that they were just part of a larger team of responders — all of whom worked tirelessly to help save the victims of the flooding.
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