The families of some of the victims of the devastating flood at Camp Mystic have sued the Texas Christian camp, accusing its owners of gross negligence and failure to protect the children in their care.
Twenty-seven children and counselors died after floods swept through central Texas during the Fourth of July holiday. The families of the seven victims claim that the camp owners knew about the risk of flooding, but did not take measures to prevent the danger and evacuate the campers.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Austin state court, seeks more than $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit was filed after the camp announced a partial reopening next year, drawing criticism from some of the victims' families.
“These young girls died because a commercial camp put profit before safety,” the lawsuit states.
A lawyer for the camp's owners said that while they sympathize with the victims, he disagrees with some of the allegations.
More than 130 people have died in floods in central Texas that have shocked the nation and sharply eased several failures in emergency warnings in the state. The tragedy at the girls' camp, founded in 1926, has drawn particular attention given the location's vulnerability to flooding.
Co-owner and camp director Dick Eastland also died in the flood.
The lawsuit accuses the camp's owners of failing to heed warnings about the location of the cabins along the Guadalupe River as well as impending heavy rain.
“The camp ignored warnings about the dangerous location of its cabins,” the lawsuit says.
“It ignored warnings of the approaching July 4 storm and the threat of life-threatening flooding. It ignored the obvious and increasing risks of flooding that morning as time passed. It ignored warnings from its own advisers to evacuate the huts. It simply ignored the unmistakable threat to the safety of its campers and counselors until this tragedy became inevitable.”
Some of the victims' parents were childhood vacationers themselves, according to the lawsuit.
A lawyer for the camp operators said the flooding was unprecedented.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the campers and counselors, and to all the families in the Hill Country who lost loved ones in the terrible and unprecedented flooding on the 4th of July,” Jeff Ray said in a statement to the BBC.
“We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of flood waters far exceeded any previous flooding in the area, that it was unexpected and that there were no adequate warning systems in place in the area,” he added.
Camp Mystic also told the BBC in a statement that they “continue to pray for the grieving families and ask for God's healing and comfort.”
The wrongful death lawsuit filed in Texas state court is not the first against the camp.
Another group of six victims' families filed a lawsuit against the camp. The parents of eight-year-old Eloise “Lulu” Peck also sued the camp.
In response to the tragedy, Texas lawmakers passed legislation that would limit the creation of camps in flood-risk areas, require camp owners and staff to provide emergency training and fund the installation of emergency sirens across the state.
