During this week’s record-breaking rainfall, first responders and swift water rescue teams rose to the occasion.
It was more rain at one time than most people in North Texas hoped for. Within just a few hours it came down fast and heavy, with floodwaters surrounding people in desperate situations.
Christian Smith and Shane Drury are firefighters and swift-water rescue technicians at Dallas Fire-Rescue Station 59. They’ve gone beyond basic training, and they were strategically placed at this station based on their knowledge and set of skills.
“In floodwater situations, water can rise and fall within a matter of minutes. Three to five minutes or even faster than that,” said Drury.
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It was that extensive training that saved lives Sunday night into Monday morning.
“Applying the knowledge of those training sites and taking the knowledge back home here allows us to make better decisions on what we can expect to happen in that environment,” Drury said.
The water rescue boat is equipped with the tools needed to respond to emergencies. For hours, the calls poured in nonstop. The ultimate goal was to rely on training, assess the ever-changing conditions, and save as many lives as possible.
FLASH FLOODING IN NORTH TEXAS
“We had one lady and five dogs at one point,” said Smith. “We had a guy and his bigger dog with two of us.”
Documentation during this week’s weather event revealed some 1,650 calls to Dallas Fire-Rescue. Of those, 232 were high water incidents. Stations 59 and 30 rescued 21 people and 10 dogs. We’re told that’s more than some swift water techs will encounter throughout their entire career.
“We had people downtown pulling people out of water. We had all over the place, everywhere, the whole city was underwater,” Smith said.
Even with all the rainfall and calls for help, they wouldn’t be anywhere else, doing anything else. This is a childhood dream turned reality.
“It’s just really rewarding to know we can do that every day that we’re here,” Drury said.
