NJ man called ‘American hero’ after saving 165 lives in Texas flooding disaster

🚨Petty Officer Scott Ruskan rescued 165 people from Texas flood waters

🚨It was his first rescue mission

🚨Ruskan is from Warren and graduated Rider University

A New Jersey native is being called "an American hero" for rescuing nearly 200 people out of flood waters in Texas.

The death toll was up to 80, including 28 children, as of Sunday afternoon.

Officials reported that more than 850 people were rescued within the first 36 hours but many remained missing on Sunday, including 10 girls from Camp Mystic, a summer camp wiped out by the flooding early Friday.

"United States Coast Guard rescue swimmer and petty officer Scott [Ruskan] directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas," Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem said Saturday on X.

"This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene," she said. "His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the @USCG."

On "Fox & Friends" on Saturday morning, Ruskan said he "saw a huge crowd of about 200 kids at a campsite."

"We were like, 'Cool, that's where we're going to go and get out as many people out as we can,'" Ruskan said.

Torrential rains early Friday in Kerr County, located northwest of San Antonio, caused the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in only 45 minutes, washing away homes and vehicles.

New Jersey hero

His Linkedin page says Ruskan is an aviation survival technician 3rd class stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Rider University spokeswoman Kristine Brown said he was a member of the Rider Class of 2021. According to the university website, Ruskan is from Oxford in Warren County and attended Warren Hills Regional. He ran track and field for Rider.

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"We are very proud of our nephew Scott Ruskan, helping to rescue 165 people in the Texas floods as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. That's Steve's son, SPFHS class of 1978," his uncle John Ruskan said.

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