Texas inspectors signed on the Mystic Camp emergency plan for two days, with catastrophic flooding killing more than twenty people, most of them children, in Christian summer camps for all girls.
Records released by the National Health Service on Tuesday showed the camp adhered to many state regulations regarding “procedures to be implemented in the event of a disaster.” Where: Instruct the camper to do what to do if they need to evacuate the camp and assign specific responsibilities to each staff member and counselor.
The five-year inspection report released to the Associated Press did not provide any details of the plans on Mystic, raising new questions about the camp’s preparations ahead of the flooded Texas Mountain countryside rains on July 4.
The National Weather Service released flood observations for the area at 1:18 pm on July 3. This danger prompted at least one of the approximately 18 camps along the Guadalupe River to move dozens of camps to higher ground.
As local officials repeatedly avoided who was monitoring the weather and what measures were taken before the flooding, the uncertainty of what happened in Mystic was repeatedly avoiding the problem.
When a flash flood was overwhelmed, several campers and staff were killed and girls along the Guadalupe River in central Texas crashed into a summer camp. Eli Glaser of CBC examines how the location and layout of Mystic camps cause damage.
No evacuation order
Founded in 1926, Mystic Camp was not evacuated, and was particularly severely hit when the river rose from 4.2 meters to 9 meters in the early morning of the disaster. The flooding in Guadalupe is about three meters.
A wall of water overwhelms the huts, tents and trailers along the edge of the river. Some survivors were found clinging to the trees.
At least 27 campers and counselors died in the flood, and officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have not been found. Among the dead is Richard “Dick” Eastland, the beloved director of the campsite is known as the character of the father by the campers.
Charlotte Lauten, 19, spent nine summers at Mystic camp, mainly in 2023. She said she could not remember being instructed by campers in a weather emergency.
“I do know that counselors were trained a week before the camp started,” she said. “They gave a brief introduction to all these types of things.”
One thing that could hinder girls’ ability to escape was how dark that would be, Lauten said. She said campers were unable to use their cell phones while they were at the camp, adding that due to their remote location, they would not provide cell phone services anyway.
“It's the middle of nowhere, they have no power,” she said. “That was originally black, like there was no five feet of darkness before you. I've never seen a star like there because there is no light.”
Gov. Greg Abbott conducted a flood disaster in parts of central Texas on Tuesday and then spoke about young victims in the area. “Nothing is as heartbreaking as hearing stories about girls around you, especially those at Mystic Camp,” he said.
There is no problem when the inspection is found
The state inspected Mystic Camp Mystic on July 2, and the Texas Emergency Management Department activated emergency resources before the expected flooding that day.
The inspection found that there was no illegal act in the camp on the list of health and safety standards. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 employees at its locations in Guadalupe and Cypress Lake.
The disaster plan must be posted in all camp buildings, but not submitted to the state, said Lara Anton, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Health Services.
“We don't have them,” Anton wrote in an email. “You have to get it from the camp.”
Camp Mystic did not respond to a request for comment about its emergency plans. The camp said in a statement on its website that it has communicated with local and state authorities who have relentlessly deployed a large number of resources to find our missing girls. ”
Camp Mystic noted that it was licensed by the National and Camping Association members of the Camping Progress Association, which said its goal is to “increase the health and safety standards of summer camps.” The association's leaders did not return messages.
The American Bootcamp Association said Tuesday that the organization did not recognize Mystic Camp, and its standards focus on safety and risk management. Spokesman Lauren McMillin declined to say whether the camp has been recognized by the association, which describes itself as “the only nationally recognized organization for year-round and summer camps in the country.”
