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Missed alert? Camp Mystic owner may not have seen flood warning, spokesperson says
Camp Mystic's owner tracked rain before floods, but it's unclear if he received a weather alert. 27 campers died, with questions raised about preparedness.
The owner of Camp Mystic had been watching the weather before deadly floods hit Texas, but it’s now unclear if he saw the emergency alert issued by the National Weather Service, according to a spokesman for the camp on Wednesday, according to Tdtnews.
Richard “Dick” Eastland, who ran the camp, started taking action after more than two inches of rain had fallen near the Guadalupe River. Jeff Carr, a spokesman for Eastland’s family and the camp, said Eastland had a “home weather station” and was tracking the rain on July 4. 27 people died at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp located in Hunt, Texas, along the Guadalupe River.
Earlier this week, Carr told reporters that Eastland had received the weather alert about the flash flood. But now, he says the timeline isn’t as clear as they thought. Carr said no one on the camp staff or in the family can confirm if Eastland actually got the alert that went out at 1:14 a.m.
Carr said, “It was assumed that just because he had a cellphone on and shortly after that alert, he was calling his family on the walkie-talkies saying, ‘Hey, we got two inches in the last hour. We need to get the canoes up. We got things to do.’”
Questions are now being asked about what the staff at Camp Mystic did to prepare for the storm, what steps they took, and what their emergency plan was. The flood has killed at least 132 people.
National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. for Kerr County. Alerts were sent to phones, radios, and broadcast stations, warning of “a dangerous and life-threatening situation.” The warning was extended at 3:35 a.m. and upgraded to a flash flood emergency at 4:03 a.m.
Carr said Eastland died while trying to save campers. His body was found inside his SUV after it was carried off by the floodwaters.
Poor cell service at Camp Mystic
Cell service at Camp Mystic is known to be poor even during normal conditions, Carr said. Because of that, campers and staff usually keep Wi-Fi on to communicate. He called it unfair that some people are blaming Eastland for not starting the evacuation sooner. Carr sared it likely began sometime between 2 and 2:30 a.m.
“Communication was a huge deficiency,” Carr said. “This community was hamstrung, nobody could communicate. The first responder, the first rescue personnel that showed up was a game warden.”
Carr said Eastland and other staff started moving girls out of the cabins closest to the river and took them to the camp’s two-story recreation hall. That building sits about 865 feet from the river, while the nearest cabin is roughly 315 feet away, according to aerial images reviewed by the Associated Press.
Also Read: FEMA approved Camp Mystic to exempt structures from flood zone designation? Here's what we know
Girls climbed up the hills barefoot at Camp Mystic
To get to higher ground, known as Senior Hill, they had to cross a creek that had already overflowed. Carr said some of the girls climbed up the hills barefoot.
Several buildings at the camp were once listed by FEMA as being in a 100-year flood zone. In 2013, FEMA changed the county’s flood map and took 15 of those buildings out of the hazard zone after the camp filed a request. Carr said there were valid reasons for the appeal and questioned whether the maps are always accurate.
At sunrise on July 4, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet, destroying homes and carrying away vehicles. Crews with boats, helicopters, and drones continue to search for victims.
