Families accuse Camp Mystic of ignoring risks in Texas lawsuit over flood deaths

The operators of Camp Mystic successful Texas, wherever 25 girls and 2 teenage counselors died successful catastrophic flooding connected July 4, failed to instrumentality indispensable steps to support the campers arsenic life-threatening floodwaters approached, families of the victims allege successful a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed Monday successful authorities tribunal successful Austin, seeks much than $1 cardinal successful damages but does not specify an nonstop amount. It was filed arsenic Camp Mystic has drawn renewed outrage from respective victims’ families over plans to reopen the 100-year-old campy adjacent summer.

Among the claims successful the suit is that a groundskeeper was directed to walk much than an hr evacuating instrumentality portion girls and counselors successful cabins closest to the Guadalupe River were ordered to stay there, adjacent arsenic floodwaters overwhelmed the property.

The suit was filed by the families of 5 campers and the 2 counselors who died.

“These young girls died due to the fact that a for-profit campy enactment nett implicit safety,” the suit said. “The campy chose to location young girls successful cabins sitting successful flood-prone areas, contempt the risk, to debar the outgo of relocating the cabins.”

The suit besides alleges the operators of the campy chose not to marque plans to safely evacuate campers, contempt authorities rules requiring specified plans, and alternatively ordered campers and counselors to stay successful their cabins arsenic a substance of policy.

Defendants named successful the suit see Camp Mystic, affiliated entities and its owners, including the property of campy proprietor Richard Eastland, who besides died successful the flooding, and his household members.

A abstracted suit with akin allegations was filed Monday by the household of Eloise Peck, different Camp Mystic camper who died successful the flood. Both lawsuits were filed successful Travis County.

An lawyer for Camp Mystic said successful a connection that they empathize with the families who mislaid loved ones successful the flood, but they disagree with “several accusations and misinformation” successful the ineligible filings.

“We mean to show and beryllium that this abrupt surge of floodwaters acold exceeded immoderate erstwhile flood successful the country by respective magnitudes, that it was unexpected and that nary capable informing systems existed successful the area,” said Jeff Ray, ineligible counsel for Camp Mystic.

The campers and counselors were killed erstwhile the fast-rising floodwaters roared done a low-lying country of the summertime campy earlier dawn connected the Fourth of July. All told, the destructive flooding killed astatine slightest 136 people, raising questions astir however things went truthful terribly wrong.

County leaders were asleep oregon retired of town. The caput of Camp Mystic had been tracking the upwind beforehand, but it’s present unclear whether helium saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an exigency alert to phones successful the area, a spokesperson for the camp’s operators said successful the contiguous aftermath.

The camp, established successful 1926, did not evacuate and was deed hard erstwhile the stream roseate from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) wrong 60 minutes.

Ryan DeWitt, whose girl Molly DeWitt was 1 of the campers killed successful the flooding, said successful a connection that the suit is simply a measurement toward helping the household find peace.

“We spot that done this process, airy volition beryllium shed connected what happened, and our anticipation is that justness volition pave the mode for prevention and much-needed information reform,” DeWitt said.

The deaths of the campers and counselors, and the gut-wrenching testimony from their parents to Texas lawmakers, led to a series of caller laws designed to forestall akin tragedies successful the future.