The owner of Camp Mystic has been accused of failing to evacuate campers until an hour after the first official alert warning of oncoming catastrophic Texas floods.

Richard “Dick” Eastland, the camp’s executive director, did not immediately order an evacuation after the first text notification from the National Weather Service on July 4, the Washington Post reported.

Eastland died trying to save girls from the devastating flooding, which claimed the lives of 27 campers and counsellors. At least 130 people have died in total.

Cabins of some of the youngest girls staying in the camp just off the Guadalupe River were washed away in a matter of minutes.

The camp is situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River, a well-studied, high-risk flood zone, according to mapped data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

Some of the cabins were located in what is known as “the floodway”, with some low-lying cabins located on the “flats” – just 225ft from the river bank.