INGRAM, Texas — An Iraqi war veteran, Kevin Jones says his time as a Marine helped him keep his cool as flash floods poured into his apartment near the Ingram Dam in the Texas Hill Country. But even the horrors of combat couldn’t prepare him for what he and his fiancé endured that night.

“I’ve never been in a firefight that lasted two hours,” Mr. Jones said while sifting through the remains of his home, which was decimated in the early morning hours of July 4 when torrential rains sent the Guadalupe River across the street surging with tidal wave-like speed. 

“That’s what I compare this to,” he adds. I’m not there with a fellow Marine. I’m there with my fiancé and my next-door neighbors, just trying to keep everyone calm, cool, collected.”

Mr. Jones has seen his fair share of natural disasters, working as a volunteer for Team Rubicon since 2021 after retiring from the Marine Corps. He’s helped with recovery efforts after catastrophic events like Hurricane Beryl, which struck Houston in 2024.

“Service to others is what’s keeping me going,” he said. “I don’t have a need to work. I got to retirement and earned a pension and all that. Helping others is what drives me.”

It was around 4 a.m. when they noticed the river beginning to rise after waking up, as his fiancé was getting ready for work. 

“I opened the door and we could see the water in the parking lot,” Mr. Jones said. “We had the flash flood warning but we weren’t panicking yet.”

“That all changed in 10 minutes.”

The couple started picking their belongings off the floor and moving them up higher, thinking that it would only be a “foot or so” of water.

“The water just didn’t stop,” he said. “We tried to open the doors and realized that we couldn’t. I called 911 and they just told us they had an influx of calls and that they were going get people to the area as soon as they could. That’s when I knew. We had to save ourselves.”

“That’s when s— got real.”

His wealth of experience in harrowing situations is likely what kept him and his fiancé, Ashlea Baldridge, alive as they clung to a support beam with their neighbors as the tidal water created a cyclone-like vortex around their building.

She recalls how “calm” he remained as the waters came rushing into their apartment and how he acted fast, kicking through their front window to escape and grasp onto the support beam for the awning above. “He kept telling everyone, ‘We’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.’”

“He said it so much that we all believed him. He was a light amidst all of it.”

Ms. Baldridge says the experience only strengthened their bond.

“It was comforting to be staring in his eyes in that moment. ‘Cause again, he was so calm,” she said. “I mean, he was even giving me kisses on the forehead. We just reconnected on a whole new level.”

Mr. Jones says he relied on his water survival training, telling Ms. Baldridge and their neighbors to “go with the flow,” and not fight the current.

“I told them, ‘Don’t fight it. It’s just like a rip current,’” he recalled to the Sun. “’You just go with it and put your hands out and grab hold of anything you can.’”

“That’s all you can do. Unfortunately, the people that fight it are the ones that tire themselves out and drown.”

Mr. Jones and Ms. Baldridge were forced to cling to that support beam for nearly two hours as the water raged around them with tremendous force. At one point a log hit Ms. Baldridge in the back and began to pull her under. Mr. Jones kept his cool and immediately wrapped his legs around her.

“I scrunched as hard as I could and did everything I could to get that log off of her,” he said. “It ended up ripping the side of my leg. That’s fine, no biggie. I was able to get her free.”

Eventually, the waters started to recede, and they were back on stable ground. Rescue workers from the Ingram Fire Department were able to reach them soon after and get everyone to a temporary shelter.

Mr. Jones and Ms. Baldridge’s home has been decimated, along with most of their possessions. They have spent most of the past week salvaging what they can. Their home will eventually be rebuilt, but until then, they’re receiving help from friends and neighbors. They have been loaned a trailer, and a local RV park is letting them stay on the grounds at no cost until they get back on their feet.

For Mr. Jones, he says it feels “different” to being the one receiving help.

“I’m not gonna be greedy. I’m just gonna take it as I need it and I’m gonna pay it forward,” he said to the Sun.

He says he will join his Team Rubicon brethren next week to help with relief efforts in the region, something he has done countless times before — but this time will be different.

“When you’re helping, I mean, you’re not the one affected. That’s all there is to it. You’re not the one affected. You feel bad for them, but now I fully understand.”

“This is full circle now.”