Our Local Heroes Head to Texas
Nevada Task Force 1 arrived in Texas this morning to help with flood rescue efforts. The team has 47 members from Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Boulder City fire departments. They also brought four trained search dogs.
The team is now in San Antonio waiting for their assignments. They will work in Kerr County, where deadly flooding happened over the July 4th weekend.
Task Force Leader Matthew Gordon said the team expects to be:
“looking for damage to buildings and how they can assist in the search and rescue of any victims and unfortunately, body recovery as well.”
The Disaster in Texas
The floods in Texas have killed 119 people. At least 150 people are still missing. Most of the missing people are in the Kerrville area.
Many of the victims were at summer camps when the flooding started. At Camp Mystic, over 20 girls went missing when the water rose quickly. The flooding happened so fast that people had no warning.
The first emergency alert telling people to “seek higher ground now” came at 4:03 a.m. By then, many people were already in danger.
How the Response Works
Nevada Task Force 1 got their orders from FEMA on Tuesday. FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency coordinates disaster response across the country and pays for these rescue missions with federal tax money.
When states need help, they ask the federal government for assistance. Then FEMA can send rescue teams from other states.
The Nevada team drove to Texas with trucks and equipment. They left Las Vegas on Tuesday night and arrived in San Antonio by Wednesday evening.
Who Makes Up the Team
The rescue team includes many different specialists. There are paramedics, communications experts, a structural engineer, logistics workers, and a medical doctor.
The team comes from several local fire departments. The Clark County Fire Department sponsors Nevada Task Force 1. It’s Nevada’s only Urban Search and Rescue Team.
These workers are trained for dangerous rescue situations. They know how to work in collapsed buildings, flood zones, and other emergency areas.
Federal Funding for Disasters
FEMA employs more than 20,000 people nationwide. The agency has 10 regional offices across the country. When major disasters happen, FEMA can grow to over 50,000 active members.
Last year, FEMA approved over $4.3 billion in aid for Hurricane Helene survivors. The agency deployed around 5,000 federal responders for that disaster.
FEMA was created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. In 2003, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Current Changes to FEMA
President Trump has questions about how FEMA works. He created a council to review the agency. The council includes cabinet members, governors, and emergency management experts.
Trump said FEMA could be eliminated as soon as December 2025. “We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it back to the state level,” the president said.
The administration wants states to take more responsibility for their own disasters. States would get less federal money and handle more emergencies on their own.
How States Fund Emergency Services
Many states depend heavily on federal grants for emergency management. Wyoming gets over 90% of its emergency funding from federal sources. North Carolina gets 82% of its emergency budget from Washington.
Nevada is less dependent on federal emergency funding than many other states. But Nevada taxpayers still help pay for FEMA operations through federal taxes.
Some states are worried about proposed changes to federal disaster funding. They say they can’t maintain emergency services without federal help.
What Happens Next
The Nevada team will stay in Texas as long as they’re needed. Their main job is finding missing people and helping with recovery efforts.
When the Nevada team finishes their work, they will return home.
The Bottom Line
Nevada Task Force 1 represents the best of emergency response. These trained professionals drop everything to help people in crisis.
Right now, the focus is on finding missing people and helping Texas communities recover. The political debates about FEMA’s future will continue, but the immediate job is saving lives and bringing closure to families.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
