By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press
The owners of Camp Mystic say they plan to partially reopen next summer the all-girls camp where 27 campers and counselors were killed during catastrophic floods that swept through the Texas Hill Country in July.
The area of the camp along the Guadalupe River that was destroyed by the floodwaters will not reopen next year, the owners said in a letter to Camp Mystic families, some of whom have criticized the nearly century-old camp over its safety measures and preparedness in wake of the tragedy. But another part of the camp that wasn’t damaged will resume welcoming campers.
The letter was sent to families Monday, weeks after many of them stood behind Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as he signed tougher camp safety laws that prohibit cabins in dangerous parts of flood zones and require camp operators to develop detailed emergency plans, to train workers and to install and maintain emergency warning systems.
“As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost,” the letter said.
The campers and counselors were killed when the fast-rising floodwaters roared through a low-lying area of the summer camp before dawn on the Fourth of July. All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.
County leaders were asleep or out of town. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it’s now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesperson for camp’s operators said in the immediate aftermath.
The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes.
One of new state laws allocates $240 million from the state’s rainy day fund for disaster relief, along with money for warning sirens and improved weather forecasting.
Michael McCown, whose 8-year-old daughter Linnie died in the floods, was among those who urged lawmakers this summer to act.
“It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,” he said in August.
Cici Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter Cile remains missing, said “the truth is, Camp Mystic failed our daughters.”
“For my family, these months have felt like an eternity. For the camp, it seems like nothing more than a brief pause before business as usual,” she said in a statement Tuesday to The New York Times. “Camp Mystic is pressing ahead with reopening, even if it means inviting girls to swim in the same river that may potentially still hold my daughter’s body.”
The camp also said that it will build a memorial to those killed in the flooding.
“In the memorial’s design, we will strive to capture the beauty, kindness and grace they all shared, while focusing on the joy they carried and will always inspire in us all,” the letter said.
The letter said leaders are “working with engineers and other experts to determine how we will implement the changes required” under the newly passed bills.
The victims of the flood included Richard “Dick” Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic, who a family spokesperson has said was killed while trying to rescue some of the campers.
“We are sorry that we have not been perfect at communicating, and we know that,” read the letter, signed by members of the Eastland family. “The distance that has grown between some of us saddens us all, and we are here to communicate with you as much as you desire while respecting each of your individual needs.”