Coast Guard / swift-water rescue: when to dial

Swift-water rescue in Harris County is mostly fire departments, constables, and mutual-aid boat crews. The Coast Guard works the Ship Channel and bigger water, and they get looped in through dispatch.

Your job is not to pick the agency. Your job is to call 911, stay put, and keep the phone alive.

Houstonians often report they tried to ‘just wade’ to a cousin. That is how people disappear off a feeder.

Do this now

1. Call 911 if you are trapped by water, in a stalled car, or someone is in the current.
2. Give the exact address, cross street, and whether you are in an attic, on a roof, or in a vehicle.
3. Turn on a light or wave a bright cloth if boats are on the block. Save battery between callbacks.
4. Do not enter the water to meet a boat. Let them come to you.

Who actually shows up

Houston Fire, Harris County Fire Marshals and ESD crews, constable high-water trucks, and volunteer teams work the neighborhoods. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston is on the industrial water and the Bay, and they support when asked.

Social media boat parades are not a dispatch system. If a stranger in a johnboat offers a ride, that is your risk calculation, not an official rescue.

If 911 says you are on a list, stay where they logged you unless the water forces a move up.

What to say in 20 seconds

How many people. How many pets. Ages. Medical issues. Water depth at the door. Whether it is still rising. Whether there is power in the house.

If you are in a car, say which lane and which way the hood is pointing. Unlock the doors if you can. Seatbelts off when you are ready to climb out onto the roof, not before you have a hold.

Never drive around a barricade to ‘get closer’ to someone you want rescued. You become the second incident.

Do this next

1. 911 vs non-emergency vs 311 after a Houston flood
2. Harris County Flood Control and bayou updates
3. Shelters & evacuation hub

More in Who to call right now.