Families accuse Camp Mystic of ignoring risks in Texas lawsuit over flood deaths

The operators of Camp Mystic in Texas, where 25 girls and two teenage counselors died in catastrophic flooding on July 4, failed to take necessary steps to protect the campers as life-threatening floodwaters approached, families of the victims allege in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in state court in Austin, seeks more than $1 million in damages but does not specify an exact amount. It was filed as Camp Mystic has drawn renewed outrage from several victims’ families over plans to reopen the 100-year-old camp next summer.

Among the claims in the lawsuit is that a groundskeeper was directed to spend more than an hour evacuating equipment while girls and counselors in cabins closest to the Guadalupe River were ordered to remain there, even as floodwaters overwhelmed the property.

The lawsuit was filed by the families of five campers and the two counselors who died.

https://apnews.com/article/camp-mystic-texas-floods-lawsuit-facb4e132c4503fa08d025efe15b42af