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 doesn't specify an exact amount, per the AP. 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. "These young girls died because a for-profit camp put profit over safety," the lawsuit said. "The camp chose to house young girls in cabins sitting in flood-prone areas, despite the risk, to avoid the cost of relocating the cabins."
The suit also alleges the operators of the camp chose not to make plans to safely evacuate campers, despite state rules requiring such plans, and instead ordered campers and counselors to remain in their cabins as a matter of policy. Defendants named in the lawsuit include Camp Mystic, affiliated entities, and its owners, including the estate of camp owner Richard Eastland, who also died in the flooding, and his family members. A separate suit with similar allegations was filed Monday by the family of Eloise Peck, another Camp Mystic camper who died in the flood. Both lawsuits were filed in Travis County.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
