AUSTIN, Texas (AP) 鈥� on Thursday halted plans to reopen this summer, backing down after months of intensifying outrage by Texas lawmakers and the families of 27 young campers killed last year when floodwaters swept through the all-girls Christian camp in the middle of the night.
The decision, a striking reversal of the camp owners’ amid bitter opposition, follows weeks of testimony in court hearings and legislative investigations. Those hearings laid bare the camp鈥檚 lack of detailed planning for a flood emergency, reliance on poorly trained staff, and missed chances for an evacuation that came too late as floodwaters ripped through the camp.
The floods that devastated the Texas Hill Country camp claimed the lives of 25 campers and two teenage counselors. The camp鈥檚 owner, Dick Eastland, also died in the flooding.
鈥淣o administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July鈥檚 tragedy,鈥� Camp Mystic said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Thursday that the camp withdrew its application.
The decision was praised by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had while investigations were ongoing.
鈥淚 am thankful to hear that, today, the Eastland family withdrew their application,鈥� Patrick said in a statement. 鈥淕iven the tragic circumstances, this is the correct decision to protect Texas campers and to allow time for all investigations to be completed.鈥�
Edward Eastland, one of the camp directors and a member of the Eastland family that owns and has operated the 100-year-old camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, offered a tearful public apology to the victims鈥� families on Tuesday.
鈥淲e tried our hardest that night. It wasn鈥檛 enough to save your daughters,鈥� Eastland said, with the victims’ families sitting behind him. 鈥淚鈥檓 so sorry.鈥�
All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, about how things went so terribly wrong.
Texas health regulators have said they are investigating hundreds of complaints against the camp’s owners. The Texas Rangers are also looking into allegations of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Safety, although the scope of the state鈥檚 elite investigations unit was not immediately clear.
The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes.
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Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
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