"It now falls to this Court to protect the public, plaintiffs' search for answers, and the evidence at the Camp Mystic site. The family of 8-year-old Cile Steward, who was swept away in the flood and whose body still has not been recovered, has asked a Travis County judge to prevent the camp's owners from reopening the facility and to halt any construction while the lawsuit is pending."
"The campers and counselors were killed when the fast-rising floodwaters roared through a low-lying area of the summer camp before dawn on the Fourth of July. 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."
"The worst thing you can do is put a bunch of 8-year-olds on a bus and try to drive them out of there. They all would have drowned, said Mikal Watts, an attorney for Camp Mystic and its family of owners, defending the camp's decision not to evacuate during the disaster."
Camp Mystic, an all-girls youth camp established in 1926, experienced a devastating flood on July 4th when river waters rose from 14 feet to 29.5 feet within 60 minutes, killing 25 girls and two counselors. The family of 8-year-old Cile Steward, whose body remains unrecovered, filed a lawsuit and requested a temporary injunction to prevent the camp's reopening and halt construction, arguing that changes could destroy evidence needed for their case. The camp did not evacuate before the disaster. During Wednesday's hearing in Travis County Court, camp owners presented plans to rebuild outside the 1,000-year flood zone, while the family's attorneys argued the court must protect the public, plaintiffs' search for answers, and preserve the site as evidence.
#camp-mystic-flood-disaster #legal-injunction-and-evidence-preservation #natural-disaster-litigation #camp-safety-and-evacuation
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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