Officials Feared Flood Risk to Youth Camps but Rejected Warning System

New York Times ^ | July 7, 2025 | Jesus JiménezMargarita BirnbaumDanny Hakim and Mike Baker

[Miami Rebel]

Eight years ago, in the aftermath of yet another river flood in the Texas Hill Country, officials in Kerr County debated whether more needed to be done to build a warning system along the banks of the Guadalupe River.

A series of summer camps along the river were often packed with children. For years, local officials kept them safe with a word-of-mouth system: When floodwaters started raging, upriver camp leaders warned those downriver of the water surge coming their way.

....

In the end, little was done. When catastrophic floodwaters surged through Kerr County last week, there were no sirens or early flooding monitors. Instead, there were text alerts that came late for some residents and were dismissed or unseen by others.

The rural county of a little over 50,000 people, in a part of Texas known as Flash Flood Alley, contemplated installing a flood warning system in 2017, but it was rejected as too expensive. The county, which has an annual budget of around $67 million, lost out on a bid at the time to secure a $1 million grant to fund the project, county commission meeting minutes show.

As recently as a May budget meeting, county commissioners were discussing a flood warning system being developed by a regional agency as something that they might be able to make use of.

..........

The idea of a flood warning system was broached in 2015, in the aftermath of a deadly flood in Wimberley, Texas, about 75 miles to the east of Kerrville, the Kerr County seat.....

People living near the Guadalupe in Kerr County may have little time to seek higher ground, especially when flash floods come through late at night when people are asleep. ...

[KC Burke]

I went to a YMCA summer camp in 1959 with three neighborhood buddies I beat the jovial kid of us four at leg wrestling after he won the mud wrestling. His cabin went to the outdoor rustic shower after my cabin had showered. He was electrocuted and died.

Camping, living in rudimentary quarters, dealing with unadulterated natural conditions is a part of a good life preparation and with it comes some danger.

After that fatal summer the camp had a big inspection and upgrade to their facilities. Too late for my buddy Tommy but others benefited as other years tolled.

[ChessExpert]

This bears at least a passing relationship to reporting. From the NYTs?

[jocon307]

WOW, just wow. What a horrible story. I suppose this, among other reasons is why my mom would NEVER EVER under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES send us to sleep away camp.

I did let my kid go for a week to a basketball camp. She went for 2 years, iirc.

I remember driving her out to the place and being kind of horrified at how “rudimentary”, to use your word, it was.

She had a great time and no tragedies, by the grace of G-d.

[MayflowerMadam]

“I’d also absolutely love to know what an early warning system was going to do when the river goes up 26 feet within an hour. “

One of the TX Emergency Management people said tonight that a warning system wouldn’t have been much help at all in this situation.

[TexasGator]

“I’d also absolutely love to know what an early warning system was going to do when the river goes up 26 feet within an hour. “

If sirens had gone off based on levels upstream people would have had time to run to higher ground assuming they knew the escape route.

Many survived just because thunder woke them.

[Svartalfiar]

It’s likely that a siren system (as had been proposed) could have saved lives.

So then there's a 50/50 chance (assuming everyone's awake and no one ignores it like normal), that the girls would have survived, or would have all been found dead in the bathroom/closet.

[mewzilla]

We check river levels online.

We have a NOAA weather radio.

We see to our own safety.

There’s a thought.

[1Old Pro]

We check river levels online.

I have an app on my phone that will alert me if the river near me reaches any level I set it at.

[Miami Rebel]

50/50 looks pretty good today.

[Svartalfiar]

I don’t understand why local emergency officials in Texas could not have both called the camp leaders and driven to the camps with PA and sirens to force evacuation.

Cell service is often very spotty in rural areas, and who's to say it would even wake up who they're calling? Yes, they should have someone awake at all times, but they may not be who the county even tries to call. I doubt they'd have a landlines run out that far, but maybe.

And Camp Mystic is currently a 52-min drive from the Sheriff's office. Add 20-30 min to drive in the dark, in the rain, on some unpaved roads. If someone had left as soon as the river started rising (every time it rises, since you never know how full it'll get), they still wouldn't have gotten there in time, it was less than an hour for the water to rise. This isn't a levee that might hold or not, it's just tons of rain that flood all over, and combine into the river.

Then it's not just this camp, but how many other camps and RV parks and vacation homes and so on should they need to go blare sirens at? Every time it rains? That'll turn into the same ignoring by everyone of tornado or hurricane or blizzard warnings.

[mewzilla]

Our cell service can be problematic so we have a lot of ways we can keep an eye on things.

We also don’t assume the NWS is perfect.

Or that government knows best.

Or that someone else will save our butts if we can’t be bothered.

And we remember our local history.

[KC Burke]

I was a Cub Master and the a Boy Scout Leader. My oldest son used to say he hated that childhood event of mine. He said that it kept him from “having any fun.” However he did get to go on canoe trips, boundary waters fifty-milers and be a full time staffer for five summers at Scout camp.

[jocon307]

My husband LOVED boy scout camp, think it was some of his happiest times as a kid. But his brother (who was much, much younger) hated it. He made his parents come get him early!

[KC Burke]

Many satisfying memories from both son’s participation.

It was a huge camp. Close to ten thousand participants every summer. It was gratifying to have some old guy from 50 miles away see my name tag and ask if young Burke was my son and then have him pour forth two minutes of complements.

[jocon307]

“..see my name tag and ask if young Burke was my son and then have him pour forth two minutes of complements.”

That is really great when that happens!