u/Final-Ingenuity-7919

Did anyone else notice that during her testimony, when asked about the yearly state inspections, Mary Liz said they would give the inspector a binder with all their protocols and procedures. The person would spend "a lot of time in the office" reviewing it.

Where is this binder?! Surely there must be a copy (or even an electronic copy) saved somewhere, right?

How would the investigator (sorry, can't remember what branch of authority she said this person was from) sign off on a summer camp that didn't have a safety plan in place? Didn't I read that this was a written requirement for all camps? Or did that only become a requirement post passage of the H27 bill?

While I am so very sorry to all of those people who have been impacted by the floods, I have some tough questions for all those who are excusing the Eastlands and saying this is an act of G-d or nature or some sort.

For context, I live in an area of Florida that has some pretty intense Spring/Summer storms. I'm not talking about hurricanes (although obviously we get those too). More like, try to recall the worst thunder/lightening/rain storm you've ever seen... and then multiply that by 10. These storms tend to come on suddenly and when they do, you're basically just stuck. The lightening is so bad, it's not safe to run to your car. It's hard to drive because you can't see the cars in front of you, there's pooled water on the roads, tree branches down, etc.

Our house isn't on the water, but my husband and I joke that our home becomes waterfront property at least once a week during the summer because almost all of these storms are accompanied by flood watches or flash flood warnings. Last year, the storms were so bad, I ordered an inflatable emergency boat that I keep in my garage. The summer before that, our entire garage filled with so much water it actually looked like an indoor swimming pool. (We now keep the Quick Dam company in business.) You really can't escape the flood alerts and warnings -- they come in repeatedly from weather apps, the city's emergency system, neighbors, etc.

Anyways, suffice to say - I am no stranger to bad/unpredictable weather. And yet, I have never (in my 20+ years living here), seen the same level of complacency as was displayed by the owners of Camp Mystic.

Our summer camps all have emergency plans in place. Many of them have lightening alarms installed. Camp staff constantly check weather apps to see how far away lightening is. They watch the radar to see when kids can go outdoors. They will change camp activities around to bring kids indoors. They notify parents of these changes.

So I cannot understand how a camp in an area KNOWN to have bad storms and flooding would NOT have at least one person on staff CHECKING THE WEATHER. Even if just to see, hey can we take the kids out in canoes tomorrow?

I think what bothers me most is that the owner once had to be airlifted out of the camp (reportedly to give birth) due to flooding. So clearly, the Eastlands were (1) aware of the potential for significant flooding, and (2) aware that the surrounding roads become impassable during floods (and therefore help would not be readily available in the event of any kind of emergency during a flood).

You would think this knowledge alone would motivate them to have some sort of evacuation plan in place. But based on today's testimony, it doesn't even seem the family had a safety or evacuation plan for their own family members, let alone the 500 innocent kiddos who were entrusted into their care.

And WHY... WHY wouldn't they move the children when they had a readily available place, at higher elevation, that the children could literally walk to? I just cannot understand why, out of an abundance of caution, you wouldn't be like, "Hey everyone, it's 5 PM, the weather looks not great. We're going to take an overnight field trip to camp Cypress Lake for the night! Bring some pjs and a toothbrush."

I am not an attorney, so I don't know the legal definition of negligence. But common sense says that failure to have a plan and implement that plan is absolutely negligent.