At around 4:30 a.m. on July 4, Kevin Jones and his fiancé were already awake. Lightning cracked outside their Kerr County home, rain poured relentlessly, and she was getting ready for work. Then, they noticed water creeping into the parking lot around their home.
“Within 15 minutes, we were waist deep,” Kevin recalled. “We couldn’t open the door. The pressure was too strong. So, we smashed out a window and climbed through it.”
That’s when the real fight began.
Kevin, a retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant and Team Rubicon Greyshirt volunteer since 2021, clutched a support beam under his awning while raging floodwaters surged around them.
“We just hung on. Propane tanks were blowing up. Trucks were floating and crashing into buildings,” says Kevin. “My fiancé was getting hit by a log that wouldn’t roll off of her. I wrapped my legs around her and kept her up.”
The couple clung to that beam for nearly two hours—exhausted, battered, and unsure what would happen next. When the water finally began to recede, local fire rescue crews arrived and helped them get to safety.
“I’ve been to war. This tested me more,” said the Marine Corps veteran of his night fighting to survive.
The couple may have been safe, but everything inside their home was gone.
Both of their vehicles had been swept more than 100 yards away. Kevin’s military memorabilia—20 years of service, three tours in Iraq—was buried in the mud.
“I’m still sifting through it all, trying to find challenge coins,” he said. “Whatever I can save.”
Yet even amidst that loss, Kevin’s instinct as a Greyshirt kicked in. He had first deployed with Team Rubicon in 2021 to Houston following Hurricane Beryl.
“I’ve helped others as a Greyshirt, and now I’m on the other side of it,” said the Texas flood survivor. “This experience brought everything full circle. It just gives you a new perspective. It’s my turn to receive help.”
The 4th of July floods ravaged several Texas counties. On the day Kevin shared his story, nearly 100 people were dead or missing across the state, and damage assessments were still ongoing. Team Rubicon had assembled a Quick Reaction Force in Kerr County, where Kevin and his fiancé live, at the request of The Salvation Army to assist with those assessments and manage spontaneous volunteers. At the same time, three recon teams were scouting the state for damage to communities and individuals in need, which is how Kevin and his fiancé met his fellow Greyshirts. They were serving on the recon team in Kerr County.
Right now, the Texas flood survivor and his fiancé are staying in a hotel. Soon, they hope to relocate temporarily to a friend’s RV until they can work through insurance and long-term recovery plans. He says it’s the support from their community that’s kept them going.
“We’ve got National Guard, Game Wardens, Coast Guard, state troopers—and now Team Rubicon here,” Kevin said. “And the community? They’ve stepped up in a big way.”
Kevin moved to the Texas Hill Country after retiring from the Marine Corps in 2021. “This place used to be peaceful. That’s why I came. Now it looks like a warzone. Hundred-year-old trees snapped like pencils. A boat is stuck 15 feet up in a tree across the street.”
And yet, there’s resilience.
“There’s no gloating here,” he said. “We’re just trying to pick up the pieces. But Greyshirts stick together. This community sticks together. And we’re getting shit done.”
