PANEL HEARS FROM FAMILIES OF FLOOD VICTIMS

(AUSTIN) — Families of the 25 young girls and two counselors who died in the July 4th floods at Camp Mystic in Kerr County spoke in favor of reforms to camp safety requirements in the wake of that tragedy. Governor Greg Abbott singled out youth camp safety as a specific priority for the second special session, and the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding considered and advanced a sweeping bill that aims to improve disaster preparedness at summer camps for all types of natural disasters. It was a difficult, emotional hearing, but a necessary one, said committee chair, bill author, and Lubbock Senator Charles Perry. “It’s not one of those hearings you ever want to have,” he said. “But we also recognize that we need to have them when these kind of events happen so we make sure to the best of our human ability that things like this don’t happen again”.

The family members testified that nothing like this should ever happen to another family again and that preventing future tragedies was the best way to honor the memories of their daughters. Michael McCown lost his eight-year-old daughter Linnie in the floods. “She was a joy,” McCown said. “She hugged her teachers, was a friend to everybody, and spread an infectious giggle everywhere she went.” He said that proper evacuation planning, drills, and warning technology could’ve averted the tragedy. “No one had to die that day,” he said. “How could these girls vanish into the night without anyone having eyes on them while cabins literally 20 yards away had no casualties?”

The bill considered Wednesday, SB 1, is named “The Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act” in honor of the 27 victims at Camp Mystic. It would apply to all campgrounds in Texas, with much stricter regulations for youth summer camps. It would require a comprehensive emergency plan for all natural disasters, not just flooding, but tornadoes, wildfires, and hurricanes. It would require these plans be filed with authorities, and also requires basic fire safety standards. Cabins located in flood plains must have rooftop egress so campers can use roofs as a last resort against rising flood waters.

For youth camps, the proposed regulations are much more extensive. The bill forbids the granting of state licenses to youth camps with cabins that lie in floodplains along rivers. New emergency plans must cover all kinds of contingencies, including missing campers, structure fires, severe illness, and aquatic emergencies like drowning. These plans must be filed with the state and provided to parents upon request. Camps must drill evacuation plans with campers at the beginning of each session, and all staffers will have to conduct annual training on emergency operations. For floods, emergency evacuation to higher ground is required upon issuance of a flood warning for the area.

Camps must also develop plans to keep track of campers during emergencies. All cabins must have operational weather alert radios and all camps must have public address systems for communications during emergencies. They are also required to maintain at least two Internet connections for redundancy during emergency situations.

Perry told members and witnesses that he believes this bill will save lives. “Had the requirements of SB 1 been in place on the night of July 4th I have no doubt that some lives if not all lives would’ve been saved on the camp front,” he said. The bill will now head to the full Senate for consideration. Monday, the Senate again passed three bills it passed in the first special session relating to the July 4th floods, including state funds for flood relief, new rules for sirens and warning systems in flood prone areas, and improving disaster preparedness.

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