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Camp Mystic faces court battle to block reopening
The family of a missing eight-year-old girl is seeking a court order to prevent Camp Mystic from reopening for the summer following a devastating flood that killed 27 people and revealed significant gaps in the facility's emergency preparedness.
AUSTIN - 136 people were killed after the Guadalupe River overflowed and devastated Kerr County. 27 of them were campers and camp counselors at Camp Mystic.
Almost a year later, the camp director is now in court after a civil lawsuit filed by the family of camper Cile Steward, who was 8 years old and has still not been found.
Legal battle over summer reopening
What we know:
The Steward family is asking the judge to prevent the camp from reopening this summer and from any renovations being made at the camp while their lawsuit proceeds, and they search for their daughter’s body.
Director Edward Eastland testified today that he and staff did have weather apps and emergency alerts, but says he didn’t see the National Weather Service’s or the state emergency warnings that were issued the day before the flooding.
"Today, one of the last statements, he said, I wish camp had never happened this summer. This is the same director of Camp Mystic that is asking 850 students to come, come join him at Cypress Lake in six weeks. I believe now is the time for the State of Texas to step in and deny the license for Camp Mystic, because it is so clear that they are incapable," said Cile Steward’s mom, CeCe Steward.
Testimony reveals missed emergency alerts
Local perspective:
Eastland also said that he didn’t follow the agencies on social media and thought the emergency alerts would be enough.
Eastland said he did receive an alert about the flooding at 1:00 a.m. but slept through it.
By 2:00 a.m., Eastland admitted staff were moving equipment but not evacuating cabins.
Evacuations didn’t start until around 3:00 a.m.
One heartbreaking moment came when a 911 call was played, where the courtroom could hear a group of seasonal workers that had called begging for help. The screams of young girls could be heard in the background, but at that point in time, the flood had already turned deadly.
Evacuation failures, lack of emergency planning
Dig deeper:
The court was told that no one from camp leadership ever called 911 during the most critical hours of the flooding.
Eastland admitted that those workers had little to no emergency training and that there was no written emergency plan. Eastland was even asked if there had been a written evacuation plan, one for every counselor and staff member to be trained on, then would 27 children have died?
His answer: "I don’t know."
Texas Rangers investigate
What's next:
The camp recently applied to renew its license and open this summer, on a part of the campus that didn’t flood. The camp has said that almost 900 campers have signed up to return.
Texas rangers are currently looking into allegations of neglect.
Testimony is expected to begin tomorrow, with the defense set to take over witness testimony tomorrow.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4's Vania Castillo and FOX 7 coverage.