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Abbott signs flooding bills with Camp Mystic families
Two months after the deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country, Gov. Greg Abbott approved new safety requirements for overnight youth camps and areas prone to flooding.
DALLAS - Two months after the deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country, Gov. Greg Abbott approved new safety requirements for overnight youth camps and areas prone to flooding.
Families of the Camp Mystic victims were at the governor’s mansion for the bill signings.
Abbott Signs Flood Safety Bills
What we know:
The new laws were the result of the July 4 flood in the Texas Hill Country. More than 130 people died, including several young girls from North Texas who were at summer camp at Camp Mystic.
Camp Mystic confirms 27 campers, counselors die in Guadalupe River flooding
Officials with Camp Mystic have confirmed 27 campers and counselors died in the flooding on the Guadalupe River this past weekend.
House Bill 1 requires all youth overnight camps to create emergency safety plans that will need to be submitted to the state.
Senate Bill 1 prohibits the licensing of youth camps that have cabins in floodplains.
And Senate Bill 3 requires outdoor warning sirens in areas prone to flooding.
Abbott said there is a timeline for all these measures to be in place before the camp season next summer.
One bill that did not pass during the special session would have set licensing requirements for emergency management coordinators.
What they're saying:
"Every child who goes to camp should come home to their families. No parent should ever have to outlive their child or endure this kind of loss. So today, through these laws, we are doing more than just changing campgrounds in Texas. We are changing the future of our children and for their families," Gov. Abbott said.
Abbott said the victims’ families were the driving force behind the legislation.
"They wanted laws to be passed so that other parents would not experience that hell that they have been through," he said. "They pleaded for swift action. They pleaded that their daughters did not die in vain."
Families of flood victims call for new alert systems as Kerr County officials defend response
A public hearing on the fatal July 4 flash floods in Kerr County, Texas, revealed that officials believe no alert system could have prevented the disaster, while victims' families and a state official are calling for changes and criticizing the local judge's absence.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was emotional at the bill signing. He was the acting governor in the immediate aftermath of the flood and talked about the two Camp Mystic counselors who lost their lives on that fateful day.
"They stayed behind when they could have gotten away. They stayed with the girls they were in charge of. They stayed and sacrificed their lives," he said.
Patrick suggested hanging portraits of Chloe Childress and Katherine Fuso in the state capitol in honor of their heroism.
The Source: The information in this story comes from a bill signing event held at the Texas governor's mansion on Friday, as well as past news coverage.