A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Mystic is a Christian girls camp where 27 people died during last summer's deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country. The parents of a girl still missing from Camp Mystic are asking a judge to prevent the camp from reopening this summer. Here's Kailey Hunt from member station KUT.
KAILEY HUNT, BYLINE: More than 130 people died on July 4 when the Guadalupe River crested 37 feet, flattening summer camps, mobile home parks and communities along its banks. One of the victims was 8-year-old Cile Steward. Her body has not been found. After a court hearing Monday, Cile's mother, Cici Steward (ph) told KDFW-TV the state should deny the camp's application for a license to operate this summer.
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CICI STEWARD: I believe now is the time for the state of Texas to step in and deny the license for Camp Mystic.
HUNT: Last month, a state district judge issued a temporary order requiring Camp Mystic to preserve damaged cabins affected by the floods. The Stewards are just one of several families to sue Camp Mystic. They accuse its leaders of negligence and argue more could have been done to warn the campers and counselors and move them to safer ground. Three of the camp's directors testified in court on Monday and Tuesday. Edward Eastland, one of the camp directors and a defendant in the lawsuit, said the camp did not have a written evacuation plan, which is required by the state. Here's an exchange he had in the courtroom with the Steward's attorney, Brad Beckworth.
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BRAD BECKWORTH: You wish you had had an evacuation plan?
EDWARD EASTLAND: We had that plan. We were implementing that plan.
BECKWORTH: You wish you had a written evacuation plan that everyone was trained in.
EASTLAND: I wish we'd never had camp that summer.
HUNT: On Tuesday, Eastland's wife, Mary Liz, who served as the camp's chief medical officer, told the court she didn't help campers because rushing water prevented her from reaching their cabins. Outside the court on Monday, Cile's mother also said that Eastland's testimony proves the camp is not ready to reopen.
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STEWARD: This is the same director of Camp Mystic that is asking 850 students to come join him in six weeks.
HUNT: State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble is expected to rule on extending the order requiring Camp Mystic to preserve damaged cabins as evidence within the coming days. For NPR News, I'm Kailey Hunt in Austin.
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