INGRAM, Texas — Riding on horseback through brush and over dead turkeys, Margo Mellon spent Tuesday scanning the flood-ravaged ground of Texas' Hill Country for dead bodies.
As she and her rescue mates trudged through the muddy terrain, state officials announced that more than 160 people are still believed to be missing. With countless miles swamped by the floods, nobody knows when the searches will end.
The triumphs of finding people alive ended days ago, while the mission of recovering bodies that might include even more children is far from over. The grim undertaking has prompted questions about how first responders and rescue teams are able to mentally reckon with the work ahead.
Mellon, a 24-year-old volunteer with search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch that is a working with local fire departments, said for now she feels emotionally detached as she focuses on the task. But she knows the experience will be difficult to process once she returns home to Corpus Christi.
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Margo Mellon, a volunteer with Texas EquuSearch, poses for a portrait Tuesday in Ingram, Texas.Â
"I'll try not to think about it too much," she said. "I'll just think about the fact that at least the families have closure."
The flash floods deluged homes, campgrounds and an all-girls summer camp over Fourth of July weekend. More than 100 people have been killed, including 30 children.
"We process it the best we can," Lt. Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said Tuesday at a news conference after taking a deep breath.
"We're making sure they have the support," Baker said of the search teams, adding that "to see a child in that loss of life is extremely tragic."
Working on autopilot
The discussion about first responders' mental health likely wouldn't have occurred a generation ago, experts say. While first responders have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological health conditions, most are able to process the heavy realities of the job.
Nick Culotta, who was a paramedic in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said people in the profession are able to compartmentalize and work on autopilot. Despite the challenges of recovering bodies, he said the work is crucial.
"It's definitely not the goal that you are hoping for," he said. "But just being able to give someone closure that their loved one was found can give us a sense of accomplishment. There are still people unaccounted for from Katrina."
Mental health challenges may follow, he said, which is why learning how to rest and get support is important.
"People will still continue to call for police. People will still get sick. Things will still catch fire," he said. "What's really important is understanding your limitations. And having resources available to use, whether it be an anonymous help line or a sit-down with a mental health counselor."

Upton County sheriff deputies do search and recovery work Tuesday on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas.Â
Support system
The stresses of the job affect everyone differently, said Robin Jacobowitz, interim director at the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz.
A lot of it depends on what the first responder experienced previously, both on the job and off, she said.
"For these responders who are working in Texas, it's probably not their first incident," said Jacobowitz, who co-authored a report on the mental health needs of New York's first responders. "So what they're dealing with now is probably layered on top of what they have dealt with in the past. And those things add up."
Stress from the job can show up through sleeplessness, flashbacks or introversion, Jacobowitz said, as well as feelings of "Could I have done more? Did I do enough?"
Most will lean on friends and family as well as clergy or spiritual advisers. But because many don't want to burden them with what they've seen, they also lean on each other and mental health professionals.
One of the biggest predictors of recovering from a traumatic event is the degree of social support a person has.
"Not every traumatic incident turns into full-blown PTSD," Jacobowitz said. "You may struggle with PTSD-like symptoms and then be able to work through them."

La Salle County Fire Rescue firefighters do search and rescue work Tuesday on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas.Â
Mental health
There's been a marked shift toward acknowledging the mental health challenges of the job, said Ian Stanley, a University of Colorado emergency medicine professor.
Much of the change occurred in the last decade, pushed along by the growing focus on PTSD among veterans coupled with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic on first responders, Stanley said.
But there's still a long way to go because the issue "hasn't been talked about for so long," he said. Challenges include serving first responders who work for volunteer organizations or in rural areas where there are fewer mental health resources.
The issue also hasn't been studied as extensively as it has among veterans and service members.
Stanley stressed that most first responders are "resilient to these challenges and live happy, healthy, productive, resilient lives."
But he noted that many of those recovering flood victims in Texas are in small communities.
"They might be recovering bodies of people they know or their neighbors," he said. "And that's really challenging."
Photos: A look at the aftermath of the flooding in central Texas

A road sign for the Hunt Post Office lies on the the side of Highway 39 after the post office was destroyed by recent flooding along the Guadalupe River on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Hayden Turner prays during church services at the Hunt Baptist Church on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. The small town of Hunt sits on the bank of the Guadalupe River and was severely damaged by recent flooding. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

People look through belongings on a camp trunk at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A Texas Department of Public Safety official enters sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Avi Santos, 23, of San Antonio, Texas, reacts while stopping on the road alongside at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Myra Zunker takes a moment while searching for her missing niece and nephew along the Guadalupe River on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Ginger Turner, and her daughter, Hailey, right, pray during church services held at the Hunt Baptist Church on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. Their small town sits on the bank of the Guadalupe River and was severely damaged by recent flooding. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

The Hunt Store in Hunt, Texas, is roped off after severe damage from recent flooding along the Guadalupe River on Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Members of the Texas A&M Task Force 1 Search & Rescue inspect the Cade Loop bridge along the Guadalupe River on Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

First responders from College Station Fire Department search along the banks of the Guadalupe River, as rescue efforts continue following extreme flooding, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

First responders from College Station Fire Department search along the banks of the Guadalupe River, as rescue efforts continue following extreme flooding, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Officials search on the grounds of Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Officials comb through the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Officials comb through the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Crews work to clear debris from the Cade Loop bridge along the Guadalupe River on Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

A Sheriff's deputy pauses while combing through the banks of the Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A Camp Mystic sign is seen near the entrance to the establishment along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area in Hunt, Texas, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A person reacts while looking at the belongings outside sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Volunteers search for missing people along the banks of the Guadalupe River after recent flooding on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Rescue workers are seen a boat as they search for missing people near Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Families are reunited at a reunification center after flash flooding hit the area, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

First responders deliver people to a reunification center after flash flooding in the area, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A family portrait is caught in debris along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood struck the area, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Onlookers survey damage along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

People climb over debris on a bridge atop the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A raging Guadalupe River leaves fallen trees and debris in its wake, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A man surveys damage left by a raging Guadalupe River, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

CORRECTS DAY - First responders scan the banks of the Guadalupe River for individuals swept away by flooding in Ingram, Texas, Friday, July 4, 2025. (Michel Fortier/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Thomas Rux, a resident of Riverside RV Park, goes through the wreckage of his RV that was swept away by floodwaters in Ingram, Texas, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)