We’ve all seen incredible rescues out of Houston and the Gulf Coast. Now NBC 5 introduces you to some of the rescuers. One team in the Houston Police Department saved 3,000 lives.
You can see it in their every movement. They're 16 men, one team: the Houston Police Dive Team.
"Every single person that you see in here, I trust and they trust me as well," said HPD Officer Alex Mayo.
"They are silent operators who go out and save lives," added Lt. Justin Wood.
NBC 5 crews saw it firsthand, when the dive team rescued 300 people from one apartment complex in the height of the flooding.
"We're going through an apartment complex and it looks like white water rapids," said Sgt. Eddy Godwin.
For many on the team, it was the moment they first recognized Harvey's true power.
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"People screaming, people on their roof, people pointing to bodies," said Officer Bryon Vecera.
The conditions were dangerous. But they never hesitated, even when the call was for one of their own. HPD Sgt. Steve Perez drowned trying to get to work.
"He was a kind, gentle person," said Sgt. Carl Sedita.
The HPD Dive Team recovered his body.
"It was pretty difficult to see him lying there, in uniform," said Sgt. Godwin.
Lt. Wood added, "You can see yourself in that uniform, in that position."
With no time to mourn, they went straight back to saving lives.
"We rescued a 100-year-old woman, a 94-year-old WWII vet, a 90-year-old woman on oxygen," said Lt. Wood.
In all, they rescued roughly 3,000 people in four days.
"Just seeing panic in people's faces and just letting them know that we're here and help's on the way," Ofc. Mayo said.
When the rescues turned to recoveries, still they didn't stop, risking their lives to dive through dark waters for those who didn't make it out.
"That's important because they matter," Sgt. Sedita said. "There's times when I'm down by the body and I'll just say a quick prayer. Because that's all I can do."
How do you say thank you? Where do you even start?
"Somebody's got to go down there and do the job," said Ofc. Vecera.
But they didn't do it alone.
"All of a sudden we started seeing bass boats, and jon boats and pontoon boats," said Officer Eric Therkildsen.
The people of Houston, of Texas, of the United States, rallied around them.
"It was pretty incredible to see the community come together," said Sgt. Godwin.
So they come out the other side. Propellers worn down, new scars on the boats. But stronger than ever.
"From the time we launched, until the time we stopped or slowed down, these men never quit," said Lt. Wood.
And neither will Houston.
"This is a gritty city," Lt. Wood said. "It's a city of fighters."
While they were out rescuing others, some of the families of those men were evacuating their homes. The dive team captain's house flooded and he couldn't even make it back to see the damage for five days.
