Families of victims killed in the Camp Mystic flood are urging Texas lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1, which aims to strengthen safety and preparedness at youth camps across the state.
At a hearing held by the Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding on Aug. 20, families shared their grief and called for stricter regulations to prevent future tragedies, according to CBS News and The Texas Tribune.
Cici Williams Steward’s 8-year-old daughter, Cile, remains missing. Cici told KVUE that before sending Cile to Camp Mystic in Hunt, where 27 campers and counselors died, she assured her daughter that “her safety and the safety of all the young girls was paramount.”
“Obvious common sense safety measures were absent, protocols that should have been in place were ignored,” Cici testified. “As a result, my daughter was stolen from me, not because of an unavoidable act of nature, but because of preventable failures on just her fifth day of camp.”
Carrie Hanna, whose daughter Hadley died in the flood, recalled promising her daughter she “would be safe and okay” at the camp. “I told her camp was the safest place she could be,” Carrie said. “I lied to her. She not only wasn’t safe, she died.”
Blake Bonner, father of Lila Bonner, described the loss endured by families: “Our daughters paid the ultimate price for their obedience to a plan that was destined to fail. I naively assumed she was safer at camp than anywhere else. When I think about the trauma and fear our girls endured, it makes me physically ill. This loss is one no parent should have to endure.”
Lila’s mother, Caitlin Bonner, called her daughter “the most gentle little girl who fiercely loved her sister and all of her friends.” Janie Hunt’s mother, Ann Lindsey Hunt, added, “Janie was the heartbeat of our family. She left for camp full of excitement and joy. She came home in a plywood box.”
KVUE reported that under Senate Bill 1, youth camp cabins could no longer be located in floodplains, and camps could face losing their license if they fail to comply. Camps would also be required to submit emergency plans for natural disasters to local emergency management coordinators and the State Health Department.
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These plans would include procedures for locating campers during emergencies, and camps would have to hold safety orientations at the start of each session.
“Had the requirements of SB 1 been in place on the night of July 4, I have no doubt that some lives, if not all lives, would have been saved,” said Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock, who chairs the Senate Select Committee, according to the Tribune.
Before the tragedy, the owner of Camp Mystic—who died trying to save campers—had advocated for flood warning systems on the nearby Guadalupe River. In 2011, FEMA included the camp in a “Special Flood Hazard Area” for its National Flood Insurance map. Two years later, after an appeal from the camp, FEMA amended the map and removed 15 buildings owned by Camp Mystic from the hazard area.
