INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Task Force 1 search and rescue team was back home Monday following a weekslong mission to flood-ravaged Kerr County, Texas.

The team was on the ground day after day helping with search and recovery efforts. Team manager Kevin Jones said, “We would come in, make a plan for the day, search that area and cover it.”

Indiana Task Force 1 is one of 28 urban search and rescue teams certified by Federal Emergency Management Agency. Eighty-three members of the team deployed to Kerr County, answering a call for help after catastrophic floods killed more than 130 people and displaced many more. The team’s mission took members along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, where they performed search, rescue and recovery operations. 

“Some of those searches were on water using boats, some of them were by foot, and oftentimes, we were in both simultaneously. Using people, using our canine resources and assets, and trying to do a thorough search to provide recovery efforts,” Jones said.

The floodwaters created dangerous and difficult conditions. The team worked for 18 days straight, walking an average of 7-8 miles a day each navigating debris, collapsed structures, and unstable ground.

Team safety officer Tom Neal said, “The terrain at times along the searches along the river banks was very challenging. The heat as well, which also played a role with the canines, because the canines worked best in the mornings, but as the heat and humidity would gain throughout the day, they began to shut down, so we had to give them rest.”

The team says it’s ready to respond wherever they’re needed next. Neal said the team will learn from this deployment to be ready for the next. “We can learn from our lessons throughout the deployment as well as those accomplishments and the things we can do better to make us better so we can respond on the next disaster, which could be within days or weeks.”

The task force remained mission-focused throughout the Texas deployment, even though the work took a physical and emotional toll.

Team leader Jay Settergren said, “To know that you’re actually looking for young kids, our goal was to try to have closure, or give closure to some of those families of their missing family members. That kind of stuck with you the entire time knowing that we could hopefully bring closure.”

The team says that helping families in crisis keeps them motivated no matter how long or tough the mission.

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