I have been avoiding this particular thread because it hurts too much to remember all these poor people that were just there to enjoy the area.
My neighbor and I walked this morning and talked about it.
We have a pool and during the summers, before the YMCA built their community pool, they asked homeowners with pools to sign up and “donate” their pools for “backyard swim”.
The deal was the Y would provide the lifeguard/ swim instructors and our children would get free swim lessons. The Y signed up the children according to address. The minimum commitment was three weeks. I had to be home for three weeks from morning to afternoon while local kids came to our backyard to learn how to swim. I was encouraging local neighbors to attend the classes.
The Y provided the liability insurance. So I was telling my neighbor that I saw a variety of swim levels in some of the young children.
I had a daughter who was 14 and was a junior lifeguard for the county. The Y had to provide swim lessons at that level because my daughter wanted to take the classes.
There is no way that even adults with swim experience can battle a rushing river. I couldn’t even imagine having limited swim experience and being a child in this tragedy.
I just feel heartbroken for every person that was affected personally, as well as the emergency response teams, who are feeling the pain. I just don’t know what to do.
Years ago we did a dam release rafting trip with a long series of class five rapids. Our raft flipped and even with a life jacket and helmet, and knowing that there would be rescue kayakers down river to “catch us”, it was the most terrifying experience of my life. I can’t even begin to imagine the terror of these poor children and people, not only in the raging flood waters but in the middle of the night in the pitch dark.
I pray these families will eventually find some peace but it’s going to be a really long grief journey.
There was a man on the news whose kids were apparently at a different camp from Mystic. He said “my kids are really good swimmers, so I wasn’t worried about them.”
I couldn’t believe he said that. He clearly didn’t understand what the actual situation was.
You can’t fix stupid, or insensitivity, apparently. Some people just can’t fathom that bad things happen to people all the time and it’s not their fault.
My SIL had a friend who had to be rescued by a lifeguard at a Maryland beach. A woman who has spent her life swimming in the ocean and knew exactly what to do if caught in a rip tide…until of course it actually happened and she panicked.
The strongest swimmer would be lucky to survive such a flood.
And the people who risk their lives to save a dog! One father interviewed on the news tonight got his family up on the roof and then dove in the fast-moving water to rescue the dog. Really?!?
On Sunday in Maine, a 22-year-old jumped in the river from his fishing boat to rescue his dog. He got the dog back in the boat but couldn’t manage to get in himself. He’s still missing. And a woman on the boat had to be rescued by other boaters. I just don’t get it.
Knowing that the death toll is likely north of 250 people has made this whole area sink into a depression. Today seems to be the day people are feeling it most, realizing that a person hasn’t been rescued since Friday. Dh cried tonight during the news. We are all devastated.
The press conference this morning was hard to watch from Kerr County. They still have 160+ people missing, and I’m sure there are people who were just camping without anyone knowing the area where they were on July 3rd and 4th.
I have a close friend who keeps insisting that adequate warnings were sent out. I quoted a couple of news reports that stated otherwise, and she just replied, “I heard different reports.” Huh.
My nephew is getting married in Blanco in October. He said their wedding venue was not damaged, whew.
To be fair, there were three warnings (1:14 am, 4am, 6am). It would have been adequate if the Warning Coordinator had not been pushed out by Doge + if the hydrology specialist tasked with the exact calculations for the warning had not been cut. It would have been sufficient if there had been flood warning sirens and alerts everywhere - the local authorities didn’t care and wanted them, but the funds were denied for various reasons. Until now, the word-of-mouth system had always sufficed - camps upriver would warn camps downriver.
All the parents and children as well as the camp leaders who trusted the infrastructure to protect them were failed. I don’t know if they’ll try to seek justice for those in a position of authority who made the calls that led to this tragedy but I hope there are consequences. Doge and whoever refused to take the federal money deserve a class action suit for their negligence.
To be fair you have no idea if anything differently would have happened. In many reports the water was already rising before even the first warning was given. The real problem has more to do with cell phone service than an actual alarm. I’m saying it’s way too early to point fingers and place blame in any direction. It’ll be figured out. Please give people time to grieve.
It’s weather. I’ve been in a situation listening to news when the local weatherman broke in to say “DO NOT LISTEN to the NWS. Ignore the reports. They are WRONG. Take cover NOW. You’ve got 15 min. before it hits you.” Thank goodness we had the local news on.
If you want a political discussion we have a forum for that.
It’s true, we don’t know whether the hydrologist would have sent clearer estimates or if the warning Coordinator would have helped but it was their job so unless we assume they didn’t serve any purpose we can’t wonder whether “anything different would have happened”. Something would have been different. I agree we don’t know whether it’d have been enough to save all or even many lives lost in the flood but we’re no longer in the 18th century when it was literally impossible to plan so casualties and structural damage were minimal.
I don’t see it as “politics” as in “partisan” and I even admit I understand the impulse to turn down an opponent’s gift - but here it wasn’t just a point to be made and perhaps it’s another policy to put in place, such as,when federal funds are sent to you to fortify readiness/evacuation/safety plans, you have to take&use them.
But there needs to be an inquiry and consequences.
(And, unless we know the camp did something wrong, I don’t mean against the camp - I do mean against the decision makers.)
When something as catastrophic as this tragedy happens we can’t just shrug, say it’ll be figured out.
There were many failures and we need to know where and why, and then corrections need to be implemented everywhere.
I realize it will likely take years and years.
Grieving may be nearly impossible at the moment and it may never end for the families whose daughters will forever be 8 or 10 … but it doesn’t negate the need for an inquiry, and IMHO the only way to respect the deaths and people’s grief is to figure out what went wrong, then figure out what we can do so we can ensure it never happens again.
Ok, will look for it. (The Biden admin, not Biden himself). It was also referenced upthread I think.
AFAIK all sorts of areas that had to deal with climate change challenges were to/did receive funds.
ETA
I’m sure many have heard this but just in case A love letter to Camp Mystic
Those of you who want to get political, let it fly in the other forum, please.
But expecting some accountability is not being political. And, yes, now is the time. Some say wait until all the bodies have been recovered. Hell, all the bodies haven’t been recovered from the 1987 Hill Country flood.
This was not a climate change disaster. The Guadalupe River and rivers in general flood. The Hill Country has been in a drought but given its location and proximity to the Gulf and the unusual confluence of different weather systems combining this happened.
to save all or even many lives lost in the flood but we’re no longer in the 18th century when it was literally impossible to plan so casualties and structural damage were minimal.