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, accusing them of failing to take necessary safety precautions as floodwaters rapidly rose.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit was filed Monday in Austin, Texas, and seeks more than $1 million in damages. The legal action comes after the families learned that Camp Mystic plans to reopen next summer, despite the disaster that claimed seven lives.
The lawsuit alleges that the camp’s management and staff failed to implement evacuation plans and instead prioritized saving equipment as the deadly floodwaters swept through the area. One of the claims in the lawsuit states that the groundskeeper was instructed to spend more than an hour evacuating equipment while campers and counselors in cabins close to the Guadalupe River were ordered to stay there.
According to the filing, this decision left the girls and counselors stranded in flood-prone cabins as waters rose, ultimately resulting in the deaths of 25 children and two camp staff members. Families argue that the tragedy could have been prevented had the camp followed proper state-mandated evacuation procedures and acted swiftly to move campers to higher ground.
Families Accuse Camp of Putting Profit Over Safety
The lawsuit accuses Camp Mystic’s operators of knowingly housing young girls in cabins located in flood-prone areas to save on relocation costs.
The plaintiffs further claim that the camp’s management failed to create or enforce an emergency evacuation plan, despite state laws requiring such measures for youth camps located near rivers and flood zones.
The lawsuit states that the operators chose not to make plans to evacuate the camp despite state rules requiring the plans safely and instead ordered for everyone to remain in their cabins.
Camp Mystic Responds to Negligence Allegations
In response to the lawsuit, an attorney representing Camp Mystic said that while the camp’s leadership deeply sympathizes with the families who lost loved ones, they disagree with the allegations made in the suit. An attorney for Camp Mystic said that they “empathize with the families but disagree with the allegations.”
