The boys camps were in a different area. Camp Mystic is an all girls camp.
Oh I see - thank you - didnāt realize that!
Iāll just add one more. We took out two low-head dams in the last 15 years. (Low-head dams are very dangerous) The first was taken out because a kindergartener died while fishing with his Dad. He had a lifejacket on. A former co-worker was also fishing nearby and was able to grab the lifejacket, but it was too big and the child slipped out. Anyhow, we got a lot of push-back about taking out the dams. My big boss made the final call to do it. Why? He said āIf another child dies and I knew I had the opportunity to take it down, I couldnāt live with myself.ā That has stuck with me for a long time, and has made me soften a bit to the excessive snow days that we have. How would you like to be the one that makes the call that āoh itās fineā and then a bus load of kids wreck? We did the work ourselves, so it wasnāt near as expensive. Permitting is always the headache.
As an aside, we have some significant flooding going on near us from the remnants of T.S. Chantal. Someone told me a dam broke at a nearby lake causing significant damage, but I havenāt been able to confirm that. I have seen some terrible, terrible flooding. Younger S/FDIL2 were just there over the visiting staying at one of his best friendās house. Havenāt heard yet to the damage of their place. We didnāt get the 6-8" they were originally expecting in our town, so we got lucky.
Itās looking like itās the local authority that were negligent and failed to warn the imminent danger. Only if they were lookingā¦
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It is pretty telling that the county judge ( they are responsible for information and preparation during disasters) is no longer speaking at media events.
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From another forum:
People are wondering why this camp was built so close to the Guadalupe (South Fork) River? There are 18 camps built in this area, not all along the river but close. Hereās your history lesson on this camp. It was built in 1926 and remained in operation except for the years of 1943-1945 when the federal government leased it for a rehabilitation facility for veterans of the Army Corps of WWII. Thatās a very long time to be on the river and not be washed away. Cell service up in that area is none existent, even terrible in the city of Kerrville just a few miles up the road. This area is remote with 18 camps, (700+ girls in Mystic Camp not counting staff) alone, 100ās of camperās on the river, 100ās in air b&bās on and off the river, nice resorts, plus the regular residents all along the river. The water was so high out of the banks residents said they had never seen the water that high. Had everyone evacuated at one time, it would have been total grid lock on the two lane road and could have been worse as some just headed to higher ground to survive. Plus, the water came up so fast and so high, most didnāt have a chance. I worked for the city and county and worked in many of these high water situations. When people say āa wall of waterā thatās exactly what it is coming at you. The number of deceased is at 51 and climbing by the hour and many many are missing. Keep the prayers coming.
The flood warnings would have needed to be received over radio. This was 100 yr flood. 26 feet of water in 45 min. In the dark when it hit the camps.
@abasket ā the boys camps were on higher ground. I read one report from two boys who woke up to the realization they were floating. A counselor broke a window in the cabin and had boys swim out to evacuate.
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They did help. They did their jobs despite having fewer resourcesālike reduced weather balloon data and staffingācompared to mid-January. They provided forecasts, flood watches, flood warnings, flash flood watches, and flash flood warnings. They donāt have the authority to order evacuations; their role is to provide accurate, timely information so others can make those critical decisions. Everything Iāve seen indicates they did that. I canāt imagine how frustrating it must be to watch your warnings ignored and result in such a tragedy.
Maybe itās no oneās fault and itās just a natural disaster. Maybe the community didnāt prepare well enough. Hopefully this will be the impetus to improve things.
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The death toll continues to rise, and will likely continue to rise for a good while.
Camp Mystic, the all-girls summer camp that sits along the Guadalupe River, has confirmed 27 campers and counselors died in weekend floods. Ten campers and one counselor are still unaccounted for. The river at the camp rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours during the peak of the flooding early on the Fourth of July. At least 89 people have died after devastating floods hit central Texas.
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It was awful and it was fast. I donāt know what Camp Mysticās emergency flooding plan was. I assume theyāve had one for years and trained their staff in it. But the NWS did issue watches and warnings. And if I were in charge of 750 children in a camp built on a flood plain I would have NWS radios and at least one of them would be monitored 24/7 when we were in a watch. And maybe they did have that. I donāt know. Seems like they did not start to evacuate when the flash flood warning was given.
When we lived in tornado alley we had a NWS radio and it went off in the night more than once. They donāt depend on cell service. And Iām sure the program is threatened by Doge and budget cuts. But if you live where there are violent storms you need to pay attention.
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My comment about NWS was in response to another post about staff shortages contributing to this disaster. IMO the NWS did their job. In an upthread post I detailed the local issues which were probably the biggest contributor to this catastrophe. Unfortunately, natural disasters have been and will continue to be part of the human experience. Praying for the families dealing with unspeakable loss. 
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Evacuation can mean different things depending on the type of disaster. If itās a fire, you have to get out, but in a flood, oftentimes you just need to move to higher ground. One camp (second link) had a plan and they executed it without orders from the county. Their campers are safe.
The first article linked has some clarification on lack of warning systems - there has to be a will to pay for the systems and the elected officials, both local and state, chose not to pay both in the past or the near present.
āThe Texas House, under former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, sought to address crisis communication failures at the local and state level last year.
After a disastrous state response to the Panhandle Wildfires, which destroyed more than 1.2 million acres and caused more than $1 billion in economic losses, the Texas House launched an investigation and proposed solutions. State Rep. Phil King introduced a bill to provide grant funding for rural community emergency alert systems and streamline and improve first responder communications. It passed the House with bipartisan support, with 16 Republicans voting against it, only to die in the Senate Finance Committee.ā
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We are a camp family so this really hit home and is so heartbreaking. My mother began attending overnight camp in 1938. I went in the 1970ās to overnight camp for 4 weeks. And my kids both went from 4 to 8 weeks from the time they were 7 til they were in high school.
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Starting to hear stories of acquaintances/friends of parents losing their daughters in this horrible event. Itās a small world. I donāt know anyone personally who has suffered this tragedy, just friends of friends. As I suspected. Iāve always known of this camp and had friends who sent their daughters there.
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We sent our daughters to sleep away camp in the Texas Hill Country, but not this particular camp. You really donāt even fathom something like this happening when you drop them off. It would be the worst thing ever to suffer a loss like this. I just donāt know how you go on after something like this.
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We sent our daughter to camp starting at age 8 too. Not in TX but the camp was right on a river. Itās just so chilling and heartbreaking.
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Flash flooding is a fact of life when you grow up in areas like this. There are low-water crossings everywhere. You learn from the time you are very young you should NEVER cross a bridge with water over it, even if it looks like thereās not much. But people donāt think anything will happen to them. When I was in high school, I attended a school board meeting and met a nice woman in her 40s. A few weeks later, she attempted to drive over a low water crossing and was swept away and killed.
One of my high school classmates posted this video. Itās about 37 minutes long. If you donāt have time to watch all of it, watch the first few minutes (notice how high above the water the bridge is) and then watch the last five minutes as the water and debris flow over the bridge. Itās even more chilling to watch the whole video. As structural engineers, my husband and I were amazed that the bridge didnāt fail.Center Point, Texas bridge video
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Itās just a horrific situation any way you look at it. So many people affected. 
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Wow, I have never seen anything like this. And the videographer just strolling back and forth across the bridge to get good shots, and all the cars and trucks just driving around the warning vehicles with flashing lights posted on each side of the bridge in order to cross. Donāt people have any sense?
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Here in AZ, once youāre outside of the Phoenix metro areas, there are many such low water crossings. Theyāre all over the Tucson area, for example. Every year somewhere in this state, a few people die because they drove their car through a wash when water was running through it.
Usually happens because they misjudge how deep the water is. And most people donāt realize that all it takes is 6" deep of water for your car to float.
Iāve gotten lip from people before for refusing to drive through, and for turning my car around and going the long way to our destination.
Going onto a bridge when thereās water spilling over it? Thatās dumb. could have tragic consequences.
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