Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R ) signed several pieces of legislation on Friday to ensure camper safety after more than a dozen people were killed at Camp Mystic, a camp for children in the center of the state, during floods earlier this year.
“As camper parents, Cecilia and I know the powerful role that camps can play in the lives of our children,” Abbott said during the bill signing.
“We know the anxious anticipation to see your child again after dropping her off at camp. Every child who goes to camp should come home to their families, and no parent should ever have to outlive their child or endure this kind of loss. Today we are doing more than just changing campgrounds in Texas, we are changing the future for our children.”
Abbott on Friday signed the Youth Camper Act, which requires youth camps to adopt and annually update emergency plans, train staff, orient campers and notify parents of floodplain risks with signed acknowledgment.
Another bill, entitled Heaven’s 27, in honor of the 27 campers and staff members whose life were claimed by sweeping floods earlier this summer, will prohibit the state from licensing youth camps with cabins in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-designated floodplains (with limited exceptions) and creates an online registry of licensed youth camps.
The third piece of legislation established a governor-funded grant program that will pay for the installation of early-warning sirens in areas prone to flash-flooding in cities, counties and other government entities across the Lone Star State.
Blake Bonner, the parent of a child who died while attending Camp Mystic, said her death was “100 percent preventable.”
Bonner and other parents advocated for Abbott to pass bills in honor of their deceased children.
“They pleaded that their daughters did not die in vain. They wanted laws to be passed so that other parents would not experience the hell that they had been through,” Abbott said, according to the Associated Press.
“The Legislature understood that mission … they tapped into empathy and they delivered laws that will be in effect when camps open this next summer, laws that make youth camps safer,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
