(The Center Square) – During two days of a Taxes state legislative hearing into an investigation into the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic, one word was often used by investigators and lawmakers: complacency.
Former prosecutor Casey Garrett who was hired by the legislature to lead the investigation into the July 4 flood deaths, cited documents from the camp showing a known flood history dating back 100 years. Pointing to more recent floods in the 1980s she said, “There became a complacent flood culture at Camp Mystic.”
She also described numerous opportunities to move campers short distances to higher ground in the early morning hours after National Weather Service alerts were issued. The campers were not moved. Former Judge Michael Massengale, a co-investigator, said the distance from two cabins where the youngest children died to higher ground were the equivalent to the length of a basketball court, bowling lane and city block and would have taken seconds or minutes to travel.
The camp’s late owner, Dick Eastland, was aware of emergency weather warnings by 1:14 am, investigators found. He texted his wife at 2:33 a.m. and rescue attempts didn’t start until between 3:24 a.m. and 3:40 a.m., which was too late. Eastland lost his life attempting to rescue campers in his vehicle.
By 3:25 a.m. when some campers were evacuating by walking in ankle-deep water, “we know that these campers could have safely evacuated to any of those locations” or higher earlier in the night, Massengale said of those in the cabins who died. “The point is they could get anywhere.”
The flood waters brought half an inch of water every 30 seconds and Eastland “was knowledgeable about the impact the weather would have had,” Garrett said. By 3 a.m., the power was still on and a camp P.A. system was working, investigators found.
At 1:45 a.m., Edward Eastland, Dick’s son, was prioritizing moving canoes, not children, according to testimony he gave in court, which was referred to in the hearing. The Eastlands could have gone door to door and knocked on the cabins and moved the girls to safety but they didn’t, investigators found.
Garrett said the Eastlands “were loving, Christian people running a multimillion-dollar for profit business like something from 1955. It was the complacency that was the problem. They cared about the girls but nothing had changed in decades.”
The Eastlands and the camp deny culpability in multiple wrongful death lawsuits that have been filed against them. They also have plans to reopen this summer, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has repeatedly called on the state to reject by denying the camp a license.
After hearing the initial findings, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said, “I want all of the camp owners and directors” to hear her say they knew “something’s not right” because Eastland’s phone was “pinging lots” from emergency warnings. In previous floods, “we didn’t have the technology we have today,” she said. She went through a timeline of emergency weather notifications stating, “We’re talking a bowling alley and a basketball court walk: am I missing anything here?”
Massengale said there was no evacuation plan in writing and no training for permanent or seasonal staff “so even if it was the case that Dick Eastland had an evacuation plan in his mind … that didn’t satisfy the requirements of the Texas administrative code that applied at the time. More importantly, it didn’t empower anybody else at that camp to participate and help in the evacuation of the campers. I think that contributes to a difficult to understand [response] such as adults standing and not doing anything.”
He said if there had been a written plan, an advanced assignment of responsibility, advanced drills, adult staff wouldn’t have been “reacting to information as they received it” or “trying to figure out what if anything they should be doing rather than acting upon something that’s been planned for in advance.”
“The fate of those girls was set before any drop of rain fell,” Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said. “The things that were common sense and the things that should have been done, didn’t get done.”
After the hearing, Patrick again called on the state not to renew the camp’s license. “Anyone who has not heard the testimony needs to see the video below. It’s factual, riveting, and heartbreaking.” He said the camp should not be allowed to reopen “until all investigations are complete later this year and Camp Mystic and its operators are determined to be fit to protect and care for children in their custody.”
