FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show
The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls' summer camp in a 'Special Flood Hazard Area' in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects.
That designation means an area is likely to be inundated during a 100-year flood — one severe enough that it only has a 1% chance of happening in any given year.
Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost
at least 27 campers and counselors
and longtime owner Dick Eastland when historic floodwaters tore through its property before dawn on July 4.
The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by FEMA, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that
lacked a warning system
.
But Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMA's flood map determinations, said it was 'particularly disturbing' that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation.
'It's a mystery to me why they weren't taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,' she said.
Camp Mystic didn't respond to emails seeking comment and calls to it rang unanswered. The camp has called the flood an 'unimaginable tragedy' and added in a statement Thursday that it had restored power for the purpose of communicating with its supporters.
FEMA exempted buildings at old and new sites
In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area. Records show that those buildings were part of the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe, which was devastated by last week's flood.
After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 from the designation. Those buildings were located on nearby Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020 as part of a major expansion and suffered less damage in the flood.
Campers have said the cabins at Cypress Lake withstood significant damage, but those nicknamed 'the flats' at the Guadalupe River camp were inundated.
Experts say Camp Mystic's requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camp's insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating or adding new structures under less costly regulations.
Pralle said the appeals were not surprising because communities and property owners have used them successfully to shield specific properties from regulation.
Analysis shows flood risks at both camp sites
Regardless of FEMA's determinations, the risk was obvious.
At least 12 structures at Camp Mystic Guadalupe were fully within FEMA's 100-year flood plain, and a few more were partially in that zone, according to an AP analysis of data provided by First Street, a data science company that specializes in modeling climate risk.
Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, said FEMA's flood insurance map underestimates flood risks. That's because it fails to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks. First Street's model puts nearly all of Camp Mystic Guadalupe at risk during a 100-year flood.
The buildings at the newer Cypress Lake site are farther from the south fork of the flood-prone river but adjacent to Cypress Creek. FEMA's flood plain doesn't consider the small waterway a risk.
However, First Street's model, which takes into account heavy rain and runoff reaching the creek, shows that the majority of the Cypress Lake site lies within an area that has a 1% chance of flooding in any given year.
In a statement, FEMA downplayed the significance of the flood map amendments.
'Flood maps are snapshots in time designed to show minimum standards for floodplain management and the highest risk areas for flood insurance,' the agency wrote. 'They are not predictions of where it will flood, and they don't show where it has flooded before.'
An 'arduous' appeal process can help property owners
Property owners challenging FEMA's map designations hire engineers to conduct detailed studies to show where they believe the 100-year flood plain should actually be drawn. That is a 'pretty arduous process' that can lead to more accurate maps while making it easier for future construction, said Chris Steubing, executive director of the Texas Floodplain Management Association, an industry group that represents floodplain managers.
Pralle, who reviewed the amendments for AP, noted that some of the exempted properties were within 2 feet (0.6 meters) of FEMA's flood plain by the camp's revised calculations, which she said left almost no margin for error. She said her research shows that FEMA approves about 90% of map amendment requests, and the process may favor the wealthy and well-connected.
A study she published in 2021 with researcher Devin Lea analyzed more than 20,000 buildings that had been removed from FEMA flood maps. It found that the amendments occurred more often in places where property values were higher, more white people lived and buildings were newer.
Camp expanded after 'tremendous success'
FEMA had cautioned in its amendments that other parts of Camp Mystic remained on the flood map, and that 'any future construction or substantial improvement' would be subject to flood plain management regulations.
County officials not only allowed the camp to keep operating, but to dramatically expand.
Considered Texas royalty after decades of taking care of the daughters of elite families, Camp Mystic owners Dick and Tweety Eastland cited the 'tremendous success' of their original camp in explaining the need for a second site nearby.
The expansion included new cabins and a dining hall, chapel, archery range and more. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers between its two locations when a state licensing agency conducted an inspection on July 2, two days before the tragedy, records show.
FEMA referred questions about the expansion to local officials, who didn't reply to messages seeking comment.
Steubing, a longtime municipal engineer in Texas, said the rain and flooding that hit Kerr County in a matter of hours were so much more intense than anything in its history that it's hard to call the flood plain management a failure.
Local officials likely believed they were following existing regulations when they allowed the camp to keep growing, but 'then Mother Nature set a new standard,' he said.
'You could have built things 2 feet (0.6 meters) higher, 3 feet (0.9 meters) higher, and they still might have gotten taken down,' he said.
___
Associated Press reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.
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Grandchildren of men who experienced A-bomb attacks 80 years ago now work for peace
HIROSHIMA, Japan -- When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Ari Beser's grandfather was on board both of the American B-29 bombers that carried the weapons. On the ground, Kosuzu Harada's grandfather survived both attacks. Neither of the men — U.S. radar specialist Jacob Beser and Japanese engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi — met during their lives. But both became staunch advocates of nuclear abolishment. Decades later, that shared goal has brought their grandchildren together. Ari Beser and Harada are telling their grandfathers' linked stories and working to seek reconciliation and understanding about an attack that continues to divide people in both countries. During this week's commemoration of the 80th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks, the grandchildren visited a station in Hiroshima where Yamaguchi, badly injured, boarded a train back to his hometown of Nagasaki a day after the Aug. 6, 1945, attack. The two grandchildren then went to the Hiroshima peace park where they spoke with The Associated Press about what their grandfathers experienced during two of the 20th century's most momentous events and their consequences. Yamaguchi was 29 when he was burned severely in the Hiroshima bombing. He was in the city on a temporary assignment as a shipbuilding engineer. After Yamaguchi arrived in Nagasaki, and was telling colleagues about the attack he'd witnessed in Hiroshima, the second bomb exploded. Harada first learned about her grandfather's experience of both bombs when she interviewed him for an assignment in elementary school. Yamaguchi didn't talk about his experience in public until he was 90 because of worries about discrimination. He then became a vocal activist for peace until he died in 2010. In 2013, Harada learned that the grandson of an American who was on the planes that bombed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki wanted to hear about Yamaguchi's story. 'I had mixed feelings as a family member of the survivors,' Harada said, recalling Ari Beser's first visit. Ari Beser quietly listened as Harada's mother talked about Yamaguchi. Harada and her mother were surprised when they learned the senior Beser was exposed to radiation during his missions. 'We used to see ourselves only from the victims' perspective," she said. "We learned that war effects and ruins everyone's lives.' 'I feel it is my role to keep telling about the horror ... so that the same mistake will never be repeated," Harada added. She tours Japan to talk about her grandfather's story and to push for a nuclear-free world. Yamaguchi used to say that he could never forgive the U.S. government for dropping the bombs, but he had no hatred for Americans. Even as his health deteriorated, Yamaguchi still spoke of his past, holding an interview from his hospital bed. Beser, a visual journalist and producer, has since regularly visited Nagasaki, and he and Harada have become friends. Harada believes the U.S. government should formally apologize for the bombings. 'A reconciliation takes time. It's a long process which takes generations,' Harada said. When he was asked about the attacks during his first visit to Hiroshima 40 years ago, Jacob Beser did not apologize, but said: 'I wouldn't say it was our proudest moment.' He said the world needed to make sure it doesn't happen again. Growing up, Ari Beser was told that his grandfather's bone cancer was presumably from his radiation exposure during the bombing missions. In 2011, Ari Beser traveled to Japan for the first time to learn more about the bombings. He has since met many survivors and is eager to hear their stories. 'Before, I think that we all believed in the same justifications. I can't justify it anymore,' Ari Beser said about the bombings. 'For me, all I focus on is trying to convey it to people so that it doesn't happen again." Because his grandfather was on both B-29s, Ari Beser was always interested in meeting a double survivor. That led him to Harada's family 12 years ago. 'It's passing the baton and it's leaving the record. … We are the keepers of memory,' Ari Beser said. He was young when his grandfather died and never got to talk with him about the bombings. 'I also want to interview him or just want to ask him so many questions' and find out if there were other options besides dropping the bomb. Despite language difficulties, the two grandchildren keep communicating and working together on projects, including a book about their grandfathers. As the world increasingly becomes a divisive place, with fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine, Ari Beser believes his work with Harada is more important than ever. 'It makes you nervous, makes you worry because if this history repeats with today's nuclear weapons, it's almost unimaginable how much would be destroyed,' Ari Beser said. Visiting Japan and meeting with Harada, he said, 'makes me little bit more hopeful. ... Everybody needs hope and this is how I get hope."
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In 2013, Harada learned that the grandson of an American who was on the planes that bombed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki wanted to hear about Yamaguchi's story. 'I had mixed feelings as a family member of the survivors,' Harada said, recalling Ari Beser's first visit. Ari Beser quietly listened as Harada's mother talked about Yamaguchi. Harada and her mother were surprised when they learned the senior Beser was exposed to radiation during his missions. 'We used to see ourselves only from the victims' perspective," she said. "We learned that war effects and ruins everyone's lives.' 'I feel it is my role to keep telling about the horror ... so that the same mistake will never be repeated," Harada added. She tours Japan to talk about her grandfather's story and to push for a nuclear-free world. Yamaguchi used to say that he could never forgive the U.S. government for dropping the bombs, but he had no hatred for Americans. Even as his health deteriorated, Yamaguchi still spoke of his past, holding an interview from his hospital bed. Beser, a visual journalist and producer, has since regularly visited Nagasaki, and he and Harada have become friends. Harada believes the U.S. government should formally apologize for the bombings. 'A reconciliation takes time. It's a long process which takes generations,' Harada said. Ari Beser's grandfather was considered a hero at schools for his role in the bombings When he was asked about the attacks during his first visit to Hiroshima 40 years ago, Jacob Beser did not apologize, but said: 'I wouldn't say it was our proudest moment.' He said the world needed to make sure it doesn't happen again. Growing up, Ari Beser was told that his grandfather's bone cancer was presumably from his radiation exposure during the bombing missions. In 2011, Ari Beser traveled to Japan for the first time to learn more about the bombings. He has since met many survivors and is eager to hear their stories. 'Before, I think that we all believed in the same justifications. I can't justify it anymore,' Ari Beser said about the bombings. 'For me, all I focus on is trying to convey it to people so that it doesn't happen again." Because his grandfather was on both B-29s, Ari Beser was always interested in meeting a double survivor. That led him to Harada's family 12 years ago. 'It's passing the baton and it's leaving the record. … We are the keepers of memory,' Ari Beser said. He was young when his grandfather died and never got to talk with him about the bombings. 'I also want to interview him or just want to ask him so many questions' and find out if there were other options besides dropping the bomb. Despite language difficulties, the two grandchildren keep communicating and working together on projects, including a book about their grandfathers. As the world increasingly becomes a divisive place, with fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine, Ari Beser believes his work with Harada is more important than ever. 'It makes you nervous, makes you worry because if this history repeats with today's nuclear weapons, it's almost unimaginable how much would be destroyed,' Ari Beser said. Visiting Japan and meeting with Harada, he said, 'makes me little bit more hopeful. ... Everybody needs hope and this is how I get hope." ___ ___
