Camp Mystic, where 27 children and counselors died in catastrophic flooding last year, may be denied a license to reopen this summer after state health officials deemed the camp out of compliance with Texas health and safety requirements.
A review by the Texas Department of State Health Services, obtained by The New York Times, said the camp’s emergency plans must undergo major revisions in order to receive a license to reopen. A spokesman for Camp Mystic said the camp received the notice on Thursday.
The camp planned to partially reopen to campers in late May for its 100th summer — not on the site where campers died last summer, but rather on a nearby site.
The document, addressed to the camp’s director, lists more than 20 categories in which Mystic’s submitted plans have been judged incomplete, insufficient or missing, according to the state’s guidelines. Texas enacted a package of strict new summer camp safety laws last fall in the wake of flooding that killed 27 girls and the camp’s executive director last July.
Problems identified by the letter include maps that do not make clear where cabins are located in relation to floodplains and floodways. The review also notes the camp’s “insufficient” plans for emergencies including fires, severe injuries, flash floods and other natural disasters.
In the section on flash flooding, the review notes that the camp did not submit a floodplain map from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Its evacuation plan is also labeled “insufficient” because it lacks, among other things, details on staff responsibilities during an evacuation, a notification process for families, and a process for evacuating campgrounds and notifying authorities.
The Texas Legislature will hold two days of hearings next week on what happened at Camp Mystic last summer. A group of legislators visited the camp’s grounds this week as part of the state’s investigation. The state police are also investigating the camp’s response.
J. David Goodman is the Texas bureau chief for The Times, based in Houston.
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