The last of the initial group to respond to the mass devastation from Hurricane Harvey are now back in the South Plains.
“The City of Lubbock sent 58 of our employees from several departments to help with the response and recovery efforts,” Mayor Dan Pope said. “City employees from Animal Services, Code Enforcement, GIS and Data Services, Public Works, Lubbock Fire Rescue, Lubbock Police Department were deployed to the coast of Texas.”
Each service member was honored tonight by Pope and City Council for their “honorable service” in the impacted areas.
“I’m so very proud of all of you,” Pope said.
Lubbock Fire Rescue first-responders were some of the last to return to West Texas from their eight-day mission in the Port Arthur region.
“It was very humbling,” LFR Swift Water Rescue Team Member Brady Rasco said. “You see the news and the reports of the devastation but when you actually go and see how large it is and how widespread it is, it’s very humbling to realize the force of nature and also the coming together of all the different components that were able to come down and help rescue the people.”
Rasco served alongside another LFR member, Jon Tunnell, with the boat strike team to reach areas other vehicles could not in high-flooded areas.
LFR sent three specialty groups, including 10 members, to the impacted areas. Texas interstate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) had five members performing search and rescue missions in the Port Arthur area.
Four firemen are still working in the area with the third Incident Management Team (IMT) to secure local and state resources for each team responding.
“It’s to come home, we don’t feel like heroes we feel like this is our job, this is what we do every single day,” Rasco said.
These groups worked alongside the U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard, and other local agencies.
