Texas legislators pass bills targeting flood safety at children’s camps after deadly Mystic disaster
The Texas legislature passed two bills on Wednesday reforming flood safety regulations after a deadly disaster swept the state earlier this summer, killing over 130 people.
Twenty-five young girls and two teenage counselors at Camp Mystic were among those who died in the overnight flash floods that caught Texas officials off guard on July 4.
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In the weeks since, the state legislature has scrutinized measures seeking to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again, with lawmakers on Sept. 3 sending House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) desk for final approval.
HB 1, which passed the Senate 26-0, would establish state oversight over whether the ratio of campers to counselors needs to change. The Youth CAMPER Act would also create a team with representatives from various Texas state agencies to develop camp safety standards, require overnight children’s camp operators to develop emergency plans and submit them to the state, and order operators to install emergency warning systems and to tell parents if any part of the camp was in a floodplain.
SB 1, which passed the House 120-4, has come under criticism from camps that have worried the newly-toughened regulations could place them under steep financial duress, pushing them out of business. The Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act would prohibit camps from placing any cabins in a floodplain, meaning camp operators could face millions of dollars in rebuilding costs to relocate cabins. In addition to banning cabins from being located within 1,000 feet of a floodway, the bill includes a prohibition against issuing or renewing licenses for certain youth camps that operate cabins in a floodplain.
“We ask you to work with us to find a safe and professionally analyzed solution through the Texas Water Development Board for the 100-year floodplain prohibition,” representatives for Camps Waldemar, Vista, and Stewart said in a letter to state leaders last Friday.
“Additionally, if camps are state-mandated to rebuild these structures, we ask that we are allowed to operate during the rebuild process. We believe there must be meaningful financial support, whether through insurance, state grants, or other funding mechanisms, so that the burden does not fall solely on families, camps, and communities,” the letter continued.
Republican state Rep. Wes Virdell attempted to make changes to the bill to address concerns, but his amendments did not pass. He worried the bill failed to account for the height differential between the cabin and a body of water.
“You could be sitting on a cliff 100, 200 feet above a floodway, but if you’re not also 1,000 feet back from that cliff, you’re not allowed to have a cabin there,” the state representative said during a speech on the House floor.
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SB 1 additionally requires all campground operators to put ladders on cabins for rooftop access and be prepared to evacuate campers if they are in a floodplain.
As the state’s second special session of the year came to a close on Wednesday, lawmakers also passed a measure allocating roughly $280 million in state funding for flood relief for areas affected by the flash floods earlier this summer, one of the state’s deadliest natural disasters. The provision provides $200 million for matching flood relief funds, $50 million for sirens and early warning systems in flood-prone areas, and $28 million for weather forecasting.