Imagine a half dozen boys on the top bunk bed as the water rises all around them.

[milestogo]

Two brothers who were at boys camp in Hunt Texas were interviewed on MSNBC yesterday. The younger one described the kids piling onto top bunks as the water rose all around them. They didn't know if they were going to live or die.

Fortunately they survived.

The older boy described kids crawling up a hill in their underwear in the dark and waiting a couple of hours in the cold. He helped some of the younger kids.

No child should have to stare death in the face.

[niyad]

1. Agreed.

Somebody (not on DU), said it was an all- girls camp.

[lostnfound]

2. Different camp. Camp Mystic is all girls; the two brothers interviewed were at a different camp. Nt

[niyad]

3. Thank you. The OP stated that the boys were at Camp Mystic.

[lostnfound]

5. Oh sorry! My reading comprehension seems to be declining. Nt

[lostnfound]

4. That was a great interview, but it stuns me that there was no siren.

Why there wasn’t an old fashioned siren system installed as a fallback when the $975,000 grant was denied?
Instead of a loud siren, you had 9 or 10 year old boys crossing flood waters to go from one cabin to another to warn another cabin??

As a Girl Scout 150 years ago (haha) I was taught emergency procedures and briefed upon arrival at camp with things like “if you hear the siren, everyone is to immediately meet at…”. I can’t speak for the boys, but the girls would have followed instructions.

Regardless of the $975,000 grant denial (for which I blame the Trump 1 administration) and the absence of an Weather Coordinator (for which I blame the Trump 2 administration), a more primitive but loud siren system could have been pursued as a Plan B.

Ask a class of Texas A&M engineering undergrads to design inexpensive systems, downselect and prototype, and choose the best system among them. “System” can be a combination of equipment and procedures, but it should be resilient, redundant, and decentralized.
Resilient, redundant, decentralized solutions are part of the answer to climate change survival.

[JT45242]

8. After the tornado killed scouts in Iowa, camps couldn't get insurance w/o safety measures

Volunteer with Boy scout camps (now BSA) and church camps. We put on sirens and made certain that we had proper shelters within a reasonable distance from everywhere on camp (goal is five minute run).

Was told flat out if the safety measures weren't put in place we couldn't get liability insurance.

[defacto7]

11. It just blows my mind that

it's always about money. If it's about safety, people shrug. If it's about money it's, OMG! I'm not saying that's the case in the example you're giving, but in general it's only money and corporate loss that mean anything.

[EdmondDantes_]

16. It's more short term thinking

Because in the end, they are going to pay via loss of public trust/business and higher insurance rates going forward.

That said, to me it's similar to how a company like Target got hacked because they didn't properly segment their networks so the same login for an HVAC system also gave access to their point of sale systems and they lost 40 million customer financial information. Target paid 18.5 million to settle with 47 states and DC for not doing basic network security work, maybe because it would have taken time/money, maybe because the executives didn't see the value. I'm sure their IT security team understood because I did and I'm not in the IT security world. Until companies have to start paying substantial fines and c suite executives start going to jail, it's just the cost of business. Many of those people might have been saved, but because it's unlikely to result in real cost to the people who made the decision, it wasn't a priority.

[JT45242]

17. executives rewarded for year by year profit will cancel costs for IT security because it would lower their bonuses

You get the behavior that you reward. If you reward short term profits over long term risk and security, then the decisions will be made accordingly and you skip basic IT security or anything that has short term cost with no short term return.

[snowybirdie]

6. Please check

Camp Mystic has been described as a girls only camp. Doesn't change the horror though.

[milestogo]

7. My mistake. It was a different camp. Video added to OP.

[33taw]

9. I am glad that they got rescued in a few hours.

I I wish that was true for all children in war torn countries.

[milestogo]

10. At the end of the story the older said they didn't know where their parents were

for a while. To go through a frightening experience and then not know if you will see your parents again - well that is the situation a lot of children in this country and others are in.

[Nululu]

12. Why big undercount in missing and dead?

Initially 24 missing now it's more than a hundred missing.

I understand confusion in early days but underreported by 6x? Seems excessive or incompetent.

[milestogo]

13. I think its a wide area around the river.

They focused on Camp Mystic at first, but I think there are lots of other camps, camping areas, motor homes, and summer homes in the area. I don't think they count someone as missing until they are reported missing. If a whole family goes missing, the reporting might not happen right away.

[Nululu]

15. My cynical side suspects deliberate undercounts

Undercounting to move it out of the news cycle. Minimize the tragedy.

Although your explanation is sensible. A large area with poor communication or coordination.

[Igel]

19. Lots of people find a strip of land that's woods and just camp.

Trespassing? Not if it's posted, is the reasoning. (And it's not posted if you don't see the signs.)

Cabins for rent, air bnbs in apts. or houses, who knows who was in them or even if they were occupied?

It's a really popular area. Esp. on a weekend. Esp. on the 4th of July weekend. Heck, the Hill Country in general is a good getaway for lots of people I know--not too expensive, no airplane, don't always need to rent a hotel room or dine out. Camp stove, tent, sleeping bag.

Thought the number of missing would soar. You say you're going with your family camping in the Hill Country, you might not say where. Then, after the flood you don't answer your phone ... Well, okay. Bad reception, no charge, you don't want to take it. But 3, 4 days later ... You report them missing. And the number grows.

[milestogo]

20. Exactly.

Its the kind of place you go to "get away from it all". But if nobody knows where you went, it might be a while before you are reported. They did say they had one unidentified body, and there may be more.

[niyad]

14. Thank you for adding the interview. It really pissed me off that the segnent

started with a "quote" from the MIA gone-again cruz, pretending to care.

[niyad]

18. The boys were at Camp La Junta, per a different news clip.