The families of five children and two camp counselors who tragically died during a flash flood on July 4 at Camp Mystic have filed a lawsuit against the camp’s operators. The accusation? Failing to take necessary safety precautions as floodwaters rapidly rose.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit was filed Monday in Austin, Texas, seeking more than $1 million in damages. This legal action comes after the families learned that Camp Mystic plans to reopen next summer, a painful prospect after the disaster that claimed seven lives.
The lawsuit alleges a fatal misjudgment: that the camp’s management and staff failed to implement evacuation plans, reportedly prioritizing saving equipment as the floodwaters intensified. One claim states that the groundskeeper was instructed to spend over an hour evacuating equipment while campers and counselors in cabins close to the Guadalupe River were ordered to stay put.
This decision, according to the filing, left girls and counselors stranded in flood-prone cabins as waters rose, resulting in the tragic deaths of the children and staff. The families argue that this tragedy could have been prevented if the camp had followed proper state-mandated evacuation procedures, moving campers to higher ground with necessary speed.
Families Accuse Camp of Putting Profit Over Safety
The lawsuit digs deeper, accusing Camp Mystic’s operators of knowingly housing young girls in cabins located in flood-prone areas—allegedly a cost-saving measure with deadly consequences.
The plaintiffs further claim that the camp failed to create or enforce an emergency evacuation plan, despite state laws requiring such measures for youth camps near rivers and flood zones.
The suit emphasizes that operators allegedly chose not to evacuate, ignoring state rules mandating safe evacuation plans, and instead ordered everyone to remain in their cabins. A devastating call.
Camp Mystic Responds to Negligence Allegations
In response to the lawsuit, an attorney representing Camp Mystic stated that while the camp leadership deeply sympathizes with the grieving families, they disagree with the allegations. The attorney communicated that Camp Mystic “empathize[s] with the families but disagree[s] with the allegations.”
[efb_feed fanpage_id=”BlackCosmopolitan” words_limit=”25″ post_limit=”1″ skin_id=”115759″ cache_unit=”1″ cache_duration=”days” live_stream_only=”0″ load_more=”0″ links_new_tab=”1″ show_like_box=”0″]
Disclaimer:
For Education and discussion purposes. Please note no copyright infringement is intended, was recorded on BlkCosmo’s own equipment, and we do not own nor claim to own any of the original recordings used in this video and intend to use this as ‘fair use’.
