Alfonso Solis, the Hispanic man who became emblematic of the volunteers in Kerr: ‘It’s one thing to see this on TV, it’s another thing to be here’

"THERE IS A NEED FOR BILINGUALS," Alfonso Solis wrote from Kerr County, Texas last weekend. A resident of Mesquite, Dallas, he ended his vacation to offer the hundreds of flood victims his tracking and rescue skills ... and Spanish:

"There are thousands of people here but I’ve only seen 2 that can speak Spanish. And I brought them with me from Dallas."

The 47-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, his story became emblematic of the volunteers who, from all over the country, converged on the areas devastated by the floods a couple of weeks ago. The count, so far: more than 130 dead, more than 160 missing.

Update: The number of missing persons was reduced to three people on July 19

Texas authorities said July 19 that only three people remain missing after devastating floods devastated Kerr County, killing at least 135 people.

Solis' daily postings on social networks offer a log of the progress of aid, of people missing, of those found, of resources needed: radios - the "good" kind, he clarified - chainsaws to cut brush, sniffer dogs, divers... and bilinguals.

'Leave no one behind'

As of Friday, July 4, Solis was on vacation. The first, he claimed, in 6 years. Rainfall had already begun in Texas, waters had started rising in the early morning, turning into flash floods. He, meanwhile, was in Florida, shopping and enjoying the beach. This is reflected on his Facebook wall: "Making memories... photos on the beach in Destin Beach."

The next day he was already on "standby" to go to the affected areas. It didn't take long for him to take action: "Heading out to help with search efforts," he wrote hours later. Then followed a series of postings with announcements of missing persons, requests for resources, reflections. Accompanied, many times, with the mantra "Nemo Resideo", "leave no one behind".

"My assignment was to be a translator and to help those who aren’t here find information on their loved ones. I really didn’t expect to be boots on the ground. But there is an entire family unaccounted for and very few of us who speak the latino language," he wrote in one. And in another, "It’s one thing to see this on TV, it’s another thing to be here."

"Spent time on a ground search with family members," he also recounted. "You see what the power of water can do. To hear the desperation in the family's voice. I was there when families were given notifications and you feel their pain as you hear their cries."

In yet another he called for depoliticizing the catastrophe. "The truth is there are no democrats here, no republicans here. There´s only Americans here," he said in one video. "There’s two kinds of people here, those that are waiting for their loved ones and the rest of us who are out there looking for them. God bless Texas, God bless America."

Solis traveled several times from his home in Mesquite to Kerr, bringing resources and summoning volunteers. Why? "My youngest is [the] same age as the campers [at Camp Mystic]," he shared. "I feel for the parents. That’s why so many of [us] chose to go out."