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As authorities try to piece together what happened during the deadly flooding at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, new questions are emerging about how the camp owner tracked the storm and whether he saw the emergency alert.
Richard “Dick” Eastland reportedly began taking action after more than two inches of rain fell along the Guadalupe River, according to the Associated Press, which cited Jeff Carr, a spokesperson for the family and the camp. Carr said Eastland had a “home weather station” and was monitoring the rainfall on July 4, the Associated Press reported.
Despite portraying to the media that Eastland got the weather alerts about the flash flood, Carr told the Associated Press that no one in the family or camp staff could say whether the camp owner got the alert at 1:14 a.m., making the timeline of the tragedy murky.
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At 1:14 a.m. on July 4, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Kerr County, sending alerts to broadcast outlets, weather radios and cell phones. The warning was escalated to a flash flood emergency just under three hours later at 4:03 a.m.
This apparent shift in narrative by Carr comes after some criticized Eastland for waiting to evacuate campers.
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The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing Carr, that the camp owner waited until 2:30 a.m. to begin evacuating campers, more than an hour after the initial alert went out. This prompted criticism over the camp’s evacuation procedures. However, Carr pushed back on those raising concerns.
Carr blamed communication failures, saying that cell phone service at Camp Mystic is spotty even in clear weather.
“Communication was a huge deficiency,” Carr told the Associated Press. “This community was hamstrung, nobody could communicate. The first responder, the first rescue personnel that showed up was a game warden.”
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Carr told the Associated Press that Eastland and others began evacuating girls from the cabins closest to the overflowing river and moved them to the camp’s recreation hall.
The flooding at Camp Mystic killed 27 campers and counselors. At least 132 people died in the central Texas flooding and dozens remain missing in the Kerrville area.
