Mexican rescue volunteers bring earthquake expertise to Texas flood recovery

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Patricia Campos stood before a memorial displaying photos of flood victims, one of dozens of Mexican volunteer rescuers helping with recovery efforts from the July 4 flooding that killed at least 120 people across Central Texas.

Campos, from Michoacán, Mexico, traveled to Kerr County as part of Los Topos, a Mexican volunteer rescue organization formed after a 1985 earthquake, which killed an estimated 10,000 people in Mexico City.

Los Topos, which translates from Spanish as “The Moles,” has assisted with rescues after earthquakes in Japan, Colombia, Haiti and Nepal, as well as after a tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004.

“We came to support in the disaster of the flooding that was caused by the creek, well the river, Guadalupe,” Campos said. “We know the need there is, to find the children.”

The Kerr County flooding killed at least 96 people in the county, with another 161 people still missing. Among the dead were 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River, which surged 26 feet in 45 minutes.

Campos viewed photos of some of the victims at the memorial.

“It makes you want to cry, it’s something very sad, because their families send their children to have a good time, to learn, to know a little more about life,” Campos said. “The families send their babies, believing that it’s something beautiful, that they’re going to have a great time, maybe in the moment yes, but then this happened.”

Campos began her rescue operations training at age 15. During a mission in Acapulco, Mexico, Campos adapted techniques learned from ranch work to help rescue a man trapped in a mud-filled house when conventional methods proved too slow.

“My other companions were going shovel by shovel and I proposed something else — it was the way that I clean my animals on the ranch,” she said. “That’s how we expedited the work, with something that we didn’t learn in courses but I learned in my daily life.”

Los Topos volunteers receive training in first aid, navigating collapsed structures, climbing, managing search dogs and firefighting. They signal for silence by raising their arms with balled fists when they believe they hear signs of life beneath debris.

The organization travels with basic tools, like pickaxes and saws, and works alongside professional emergency responders in disaster zones.

Campos said her motivation crosses borders.

“What moved me here is wanting to support people without expecting anything in return,” she said. “This work is very beautiful, there are no words to explain it.”

The flooding occurred when 5-11 inches of rain fell rapidly, causing the Guadalupe River to reach its second-highest level on record. President Donald Trump signed a federal disaster declaration and planned a visit to the region Friday.