SENATE PASSES CAMP SAFETY BILL AS FAMILIES LOOK ON

(AUSTIN) — The Senate passed Thursday evening a bill that would overhaul safety standards for youth camps following the death of twenty-five campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic during the July 4th floods. The family and friends of the victims were present in the chamber gallery to hear members express grief at what happened and resolve that it never happen again. “We have a responsibility to be the watchmen,” said Lubbock Senator Charles Perry, who chairs the Senate’s Flooding and Disaster Response Committee created to deal with the flooding aftermath.

The day before, that panel heard from those same family members, who told lawmakers that this was an avoidable tragedy. “It is abundantly clear to me, and should be to everyone around, that Camp Mystic was completely unprepared for the flooding that cost my daughter her life,” said Davin Hunt, whose nine-year-old daughter Janie was among those who died. The tragedy has exposed a lack of planning and growing complacency towards the threat of flooding in a region that sees some of the most dangerous flash flooding in America. “I believe this was a horrifically bad response by Camp Mystic,” Houston Senator Paul Bettencourt said on the floor Thursday night. “What we heard yesterday in testimony was appalling.” Bettencourt said he was especially dismayed to learn that the camp policy was not to evacuate cabins during flooding. “We can never have another camp make this mistake again,” he said.

Under the bill passed Thursday, SB 1 by Perry and co-authored by the entire Senate, that would no longer be a decision left up to individual camps. It would require that when a flash flood warning is issued for an area including a summer camp, campers must be immediately evacuated to higher ground. “I have taken all the subjective conversations, all the politics out of making a decision to move to higher ground,” said Perry. “You have no other decision to make but to go get the kids and take them to higher ground.” Another key provision in the bill would prohibit campers from sleeping in cabins that lie in 100-year flood plains.

Emergency preparation is also improved under the bill. All summer camps must have a multi-hazard emergency response plan filed with the Department of State Health Services, which licenses and regulates camps in Texas. Camp employees will be required to undergo annual emergency training, and campers must be instructed and drilled on evacuation procedures at the beginning of all camp sessions. Camps must have operational weather alert radios to monitor conditions, as well as public address systems that can communicate with camp staff and guests when those conditions become dangerous.

Earlier this week the Senate passed three other flood response measures. That includes a bill that would overhaul local emergency management procedures to ensure better continuity of leadership, management of volunteers, and communications for responders, a bill that would require installation of warning sirens in flood-prone areas, and nearly $300 million in state funds to enact these reforms and provide relief for the thousands of Texans who were affected by the historic floods.

The bill is entitled “The Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act” in honor of the twenty-seven Camp Mystic victims and their grieving families. After passage of the bill, the Senate eulogized each child and counselor by name. From the dais, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick thanked the families for showing bravery in coming forward to testify, their work to ensure something like this never happens again, and the grace with which they’ve navigated this tragedy. “The one thing besides courage that you’ve shown, you’ve been so gracious to us,” said Patrick. “In a way you’ve inspired us to do our best, and we’re all better for that.”

###