Texas legislators on Wednesday passed two bills that would create new requirements and restrictions for camps operating in or near flood plains, two months after at least 27 campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic due to catastrophic flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas, the Texas Tribune reports.
House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 would require youth camps to implement emergency procedures that include an evacuation plan, how to account for campers, and how to communicate with emergency managers and parents and guardians, and training for campers and staff.
New licensing rules would require all bunks or cabins in flood plains to be moved.
“Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1 would not have happened without your relentless advocacy, fight, and determination,” SB 1 House sponsor Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said on the House floor Wednesday. “Thank you for trusting us to do your work, that is the people’s work.”
Parents who lost children testified this summer about the lack of strategy during the floods.
“Our children’s lives were cut short because the safeguards in place were not enough,” said a spokesperson for the Campaign for Camp Safety.
“We are asking lawmakers to make sure no other family ever has to endure the pain we have lived with every day since July 4.”
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