Texas youth camps tell lawmakers they need better coordination, emergency plans during disasters

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As they consider youth camp safety reforms following last month’s deadly floods, Texas lawmakers should help camps design a multi-layered disaster plan that creates useful backstops, the owners of two Hill Country camps said on Wednesday.

To start, youth camps should work together with first responders when developing their state-required emergency management plans, said Steve Baskin, the owner and executive director of Camp Champions in Marble Falls.

“These groups have insights and expertise, not just in protocols but protocols purely specific to a local area,” Baskin told the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee. “Emergency plans should then be filed with local authorities, so they know what you're going to do.”

Wednesday’s committee hearing was the first time state leaders scheduled a discussion on youth camp emergency preparedness and flood response since the July 4 floods killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and counselors of Camp Mystic in Kerr County.

Baskin’s cousin, Camp Heart O’ The Hills Director Jane Ragsdale, was also killed in the flooding.

There are some 10 bills to improve youth camp safety filed during this special legislative session which ends Aug. 19. Many are calling for everything from evacuation drills, sirens and stocking each riverview cabin with lifejackets, to having the Texas Division of Emergency Management give input on emergency plans.

Currently, the Texas Department of State Health Services, checks that camps have a plan and that they are posted in each building of the camp, but the agency is not empowered to check the effectiveness of the plans.

Baskin, who operates camps in North Carolina and is also a board member of the American Camp Association, the nation’s largest camp accreditation organization, offered a laundry list of recommendations during the hearing. Among them, camps should develop a communication system that will work even in the event of a cell service or power outage. Many of the 18 camps in and around Hunt already employ the use of two-way radios or walkie-talkies or airhorns.

Meg Clark, executive director and owner of Camp Waldemar, told lawmakers her camp had two different radio systems because that part of Kerr County has spotty cell service. “It’s an essential part of our communication.”

Both Baskin and Clark stressed the need for multiple, interlocking methods to assess weather and other emergencies. Relying on online weather reports is fine but camps need to build up their own camp and law enforcement networks to help report along the river when weather changes instantly.

Clark pointed out that having local emergency responders regularly come to Waldemar to be part of their training is critical to helping them understand where things are located and how they can respond quickly.

“Safety is not just a box that we check,” she said. “It is actually a culture … It is truly in the forefront of our minds at all times.

Weather radios not dependent on electricity are also a must. “When everything else fails, radios continue to get signals.” Baskin said. He also stressed the need for a more detailed disaster plan for camps where say a flood watch prompts one set of action, but a flood warning requires another set for staff to follow.

As for campers, clear instructions that inform but don’t overwhelm campers should be key, he said. “We don't need 30-page binders in every cabin,” he said.

Both Baskin and Clark pressed upon lawmakers the need to keep in mind that every camp is different.

Both Baskin and Clark were hesitant to endorse sirens at camps after lawmakers asked them for their input. They worry about creating more stress on campers, but they said campers should be warned of an imminent threat.

Camp Waldemar’s emergency prep on July 4 

At Camp Waldemar, Clark described an orderly disaster response at the camp that kicked in after staff received a text about 1:30 a.m on July 4 and the rain intensity increased. Staff members immediately pulled in canoes from the river but all of Waldemar’s cabins were on a bluff, away from the water. Unlike Camp Mystic, all of Waldemar’s cabins were located outside the flood plain.

She said the camp’s emergency plan called for all 318 campers who were on site, as well as the 150 staff members to remain inside the camp’s buildings until the storm passed.

“Because there are numerous low water bridges all the way to camp, to evacuate children at night or any time during a flood, would have devastating results,” Clark said. “We have always sheltered in place.”

Waldemar’s electricity was knocked out and there was limited cell service. Clark said they immediately contacted all the girls’ families to let them know they were safe. A water line to the camp was immediately taken out by the storm, so the following day Clark and her staff decided to end the camp term early and notified parents where to pick up children who were transported by the Ingram school district buses once the roads were passable.

“As required, we maintain an emergency action plan and evacuation plan, outlining all of our procedures,” Clark told the committee. The plans are updated regularly and every summer her staff gets a multi-day orientation that includes everything from emergency protocol to camper supervision and severe weather precautions.

During heavy storms, campers stay in their cabin or in other inside locations. If lightning is detected, camp classes are canceled.

Keep the no-phone policy

One of the unique challenges, both she and Baskin pointed out, was the lack of adequate cell service in Kerr County, forcing most camps to rely on secondary methods of communication, namely walkie-talkies.

She and Baskin stressed to lawmakers that letting children unplug from electronic devices was a key benefit of summer camp and asked that any recommendation or bill they champion not require that campers come with cell phones to camp. “You know, part of the beauty of camp is that the children do get to unplug, that they are off their devices,” Clark said.

Committee Chair Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, who noted his own twin daughters are the fourth generation of girls in his family to attend Waldemar, praised both Clark and Baskin for their thorough recommendations and commitment to safety.

“It’s a very special place,” he said.

When asked about what could have been done to better help camps following the flooding, Baskin praised the local and state efforts but pointed out that better coordination could have helped everyone.

“What I felt in the heat of the moment was we needed a quarterback,” she said. “At times it was hard to know who was in charge.”

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