Latest news with #summerCamp
Al Bawaba
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Bawaba
Texas floods death toll rises to 120, search underway for missing people
Published July 10th, 2025 - 06:08 GMT ALBAWABA- The death toll from the devastating floods that swept through the US state of Texas has risen to at least 120, according to US media reports on Thursday, citing local authorities. Also Read Texas floods death toll rises to 50 Authorities stated that at least 96 people were killed in Kerr County alone, including 36 children, many of them at a girls' summer camp. At least 160 people are still missing. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported./AFP Moreover, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said more than 2,200 personnel remain deployed. "Flooding conditions from last week's storms continue to impact multiple areas across the state, including Central Texas, the Hill Country, Big Country, and the Concho Valley," Abbott said in a statement. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
At US summer camps, kids get a glimpse of their future. That's what made the horror in Texas so visceral
Among the many dreams that the US offers its citizens, there's this: that the American child, around the age of eight, will go to sleep-away camp a few hours from home and begin one of the key formative experiences of their life. They will return every summer. They will learn independence. They will form bonds with people who will one day godparent their children. As an adult, a friend of mine – no kidding – returned to the hallowed ground in Pennsylvania where her summer camp once stood, bought a piece of land and built a house there. Whenever we visited, she'd point out the ruins of the old dining hall down by the lake and get a haunted look on her face. I mention this because, among the many devastated reactions to the flash floods in Texas last week, there is one that is particular, and particularly acute, to millions of Americans: a gut-level blow of unfathomable loss striking at an experience many consider to be sacred. There's no real equivalent to these kinds of summer camps in Britain. But for 26 million American kids each year, going to camp is indistinguishable from summer itself. And as with Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River, where 27 campers and staff were killed by the floods, many have been going for long enough to be attended by generations of the same family. In a country relatively short on long-range tradition, summer camp is right up there. As a result, as news of the floods started to break last weekend, there was a frenzy of communication between parents across the country, many of whom had dropped their own kids off at camp the previous week. 'Unimaginable' was the word bouncing around on the text chains, but what made this disaster so horrific is that, for many Americans, the scene at Camp Mystic was intimately imaginable. You knew the excitement and nerves of the youngest children being dropped off for the first time; you could see, in your mind's eye, the camp director, mirrored wrap-around sunglasses balanced on top of his baseball cap, marshalling cars stuffed with gear to their cabins. These camps, many of which have been running for more than 100 years, run like clockwork. You could put the American Camp Association in charge of the US military and it would probably do just fine. The idea of any evil befalling your child at summer camp is, in the minds of many Americans, more remote than something happening to them at school. Still, as an outsider, when my own kids got within age range two years ago, I was instinctively hostile to the whole thing. It seemed cultish. Seeing your child off to be minded by a bunch of untested 18-year-olds from Europe and Australia, brought in via a visa loophole, seemed nuts. The closest experience I'd had in my own childhood was a week at Brownie camp, and I'd hated every second of it. This wasn't, I knew, how many of my American friends felt. Immortalised in movies like The Parent Trap and books like Meg Wolitzer's coming of age novel The Interestings, camp is where they first discovered their tribes – in the close-knit Jewish camps of the north-east; in the arts and theatre camps and the YMCA camp network, to which my own kids (after launching a campaign to persuade me) would themselves end up going. No tech, no phone calls, basically no laundry. Up at 7.30am and lights out at 9pm. A 'bucolic' camp in rural New Jersey that was also my personal nightmare: in a wood, on a lake, where there were bear drills and snapping turtles and the occasional snake, plus no air conditioning, and – ugh – group fun. And I was wrong, as it turned out. At eight years old, my kids did two weeks at camp and a year later, before we left the US for good, they lobbied to be allowed back for three. Their half-brother, two years their senior, was already pulling down the full two months at his camp up in the Berkshires. And while it won't be the defining experience of their lives, when they're 50 I have a feeling they'll still be talking, occasionally, about camp – not the friends they made, but the even more delicious experience of making a sworn enemy, a kid from New Jersey who furthered the opinion that New York is full of 'crusty rats'. It inoculated them against other failures of nerve and made change seem not just survivable but fun. In other words – and as American parents this week consider in light of the full horror in Texas, where stories of what happened at Camp Mystic continue to unfold – it seemed to contain within it a promise of the future. Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
What Tragedy Can Teach Us About Climate Preparedness
A Texas state flag flies in a yard filled with debris on July 6 in Hunt, Texas. Photo byThere are at least 160 people, including several young girls who were at summer camp, still missing amid the devastating floods that took place in Texas Hill Country on the Fourth of July. At least 119 people, including 36 children, have been confirmed dead. This is a catastrophic loss. As CBS reports, 'survivors have described the floods as a 'pitch black wall of death' and said they received no emergency warnings.' Residents and summer camps along the Guadalupe River were not told to evacuate and only got an alert warning at 4 a.m., as the river had already begun to rise. Many have described the incident as 'a 100-year flood'—meaning it was one of the worst and most powerful floods of the past century. According to the Austin American-Statesman , at the flood's peak at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the river unleashed 111,000 cubic feet of water per second. Kerr County officials say they had previously presented a proposal for an upgraded flood warning system, like other communities have for tornadoes, but, as CBS reports, 'the public reeled at the cost.' That looks short-sighted and misguided now. From a climate perspective, we know extreme weather and disasters like this flood are getting worse and more frequent. And climate-smart emergency preparedness is one of the best defenses against that looming unknown. It is up to every one of us to make that clear to anyone (elected or otherwise) who is willing to listen. I really appreciated this op-ed in the Texas Observer , from a survivor of another massive flood in 2002, also on Independence Day. Parts of Hill Country are known as 'flash flood alley,' notes the author Chaney Hill, who found herself at a summer camp when the flood hit more than 20 years ago. 'Flash floods seem to come from nowhere—unexpected, sudden, terrifying. They seemingly manifest as sudden and inevitable events. This simply isn't accurate, though. Weather events such as the one that led to the 2002 floods were exacerbated by a number of things: an ongoing drought, weather patterns leading up to the rain, as well as the implementation of policies and practices of the landowners near the headwaters,' Hill writes. 'The flood did not come from nowhere: It was an effect of larger historical, structural, and environmental processes.' Heavy words to reflect on, and I'm hoping that as officials, local leaders and survivors process this trauma, there are some lessons we can all learn. I am wishing for speed in finding those who are still missing, and peace for those who have been lost. Stay safe out there. — Chloe Sorvino This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter , which every Wednesday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here . Featured Story I Remember the 2002 Fourth of July Hill Country Floods. This Year, The Water Returned. Two women look at homes flooded by the Guadalupe River in July 2002 in New Braunfels, Texas. Flood waters at the time forced thousands from their homes. Photo by Alicia Wagner Calzada/ Getty Images In an op-ed for the Texas Observer , Chaney Hill writes about memories from another instance of the Guadalupe River flooding more than 20 years ago, and the lessons that can be learned from climate disasters. JBS Watch I was thrilled to have my reporting on meat-packing giant JBS (and my book Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat ) featured in this mini-doc made by More Perfect Union. Give it a watch! The Feed Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Who's Got That MAHA Feeling?: The New York Times reports on two of the biggest hold-outs against the Make America Healthy Again push to eliminate petroleum-based synthetic food dyes: M&Ms and Froot Loops. Candy and cereal are some of the worst offenders when it comes to using these dyes, and Mars-owned M&Ms, for example, isn't yet swayed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's movement. While Mars recently removed the whitening agent titanium dioxide from Skittles, that's just one ingredient among others that MAHA questions, and M&Ms and other iconic candies are not yet being reformulated. Mars attempted to go synthetic-dye-free in 2016, the NYT reports, but abandoned plans after consumer tests indicated that U.S. shoppers preferred the artificial versions. Mars is America's fourth-largest privately held company, with $50 billion in 2024 revenue. Its six heirs share a fortune that tops $100 billion in all. Food systems consume 40% of petrochemicals. IPES-Food It's Getting Hot In Here: Fossil fuels are embedded throughout the food system, writes Forbes contributor Errol Schweizer, and a study showing that the usage of fossil fuels is growing is cause for concern. But Schweizer puts forth another way forward where 'fossil fuel dependence is not inevitable.' Universal Images Group via Getty Images Don't Cry Over Spilled Mozzarella: Or maybe we should. In Centre County, Pennsylvania, a crash of three tractor-trailers left the contents of one truck—mozzarella cheese—spilling out onto Interstate 80. According to Pittsburgh-based NBC affiliate WPXI, partially ripped boxes of mozzarella stretched the length of two football fields. Field Notes Chloe Sorvino The grilled clams at The Place in Guilford, Connecticut—pictured here are the famous 'house special' (read: cocktail sauce heavy, in a good way). This tented, open-fire institution has been dishing out grilled clams, lobsters, steaks and corn since 1971. It's worth a detour to, as The Place's T-shirts say, 'put your rump on a stump' under its red and white striped big tent. And it's a good recommendation to keep in mind, especially if you find yourself roadtripping along Interstate 95 this summer—The Place is roughly 30 minutes north of New Haven. Cash only (with an ATM on-site) and BYOB. Thanks for reading the 150th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here .
CTV News
09-07-2025
- CTV News
Texas flood to create safety planning ‘ripple effect' at Canadian camps: organizers
Participants take a lunch break beside Upper Kananaskis Lake while attending the Rockies Journey camp run by Howl in Kananaskis, Monday, July 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh EDMONTON — Canadian summer camp organizers say they expect a ripple effect of bolstered emergency plans and preparations this summer after more than two dozen campers and camp counsellors were killed by severe flash floods in Texas on Friday. 'I would be shocked if there aren't a lot of people that are looking at this and taking pause, even reflecting on their own policies,' said Brad Halsey, an Alberta summer camp director and board vice chair of the Alberta Camping Association. 'I am pausing and questioning 'Are our policies up to snuff?'' Halsey, who helps run a summer camp north of Edmonton, said unlike the disaster that struck Texas and Camp Mystic, wildfires prove to be the main threat for his camp and camps across Alberta. 'But at the same time, it really is the same thing whether it's fire, flood, whatever. You still need to have the same sort of plan,' he said. 'Do leaders know where to go? Do we have the muster points? Do we have the evacuation plan in place? And have we practiced it?' For Alberta's summer camps, Halsey said the overwhelming answer to all of those questions should be yes. The Alberta Camping Association — a voluntary regulatory body — sets standards for things like safety and emergency preparedness for member camps, of which there are more than 40. Halsey said member camps are required to have crisis and disaster plans in place, trained and qualified staff to execute those plans and proof that regular practice drills occur. 'There's a bit of a nuance ultimately depending on the needs of that community,' he said, noting that emergency plans will differ for every camp based on location and amenities like nearby water bodies. Nearly every province has its own version of a regulatory body like the Alberta Camping Association to regulate summer camps, and Halsey said some insurance companies require that camps be members in good standing. There's also a national body — the Canadian Camping Association — that oversees the provincial bodies. In some provinces, such as Ontario, there's provincial legislation that mandates camps to have safety plans. 'In Ontario, I could safely say that we have put our heart and soul into emergency and crisis preparedness,' said Eric Shendelman, past president of the Ontario Camps Association. Shendelman, an expert on drowning and injury prevention who runs a swim school in Toronto, said he expects summer camp organizers across the country to be taking stock of their own plans and readiness following the news out of Texas. 'It's amazing how a traumatic scenario like that, even if it's across another nation, does have this ripple effect,' he said. Shendelman said he wasn't sure if any enhanced planning measures would've protected campers in Texas. Camp Mystic had its own emergency plans in place — plans that inspectors had signed off on just two days before the flooding occurred. It's not clear if staff followed those plans, as campers weren't moved to higher ground when the U.S. National Weather Service issued a flood watch the day before. Shendelman said Canadian camp organizers are considering what they would've done if put in a similar situation. 'We've heard from a number of directors who are quite concerned,' he said. 'We are doing our very best to find the experts that can help in this flood management area.' Back in Alberta, the Texas flooding comes just as Darielle Rairdan and her co-director of Bar Harbour Camp train staff ahead of the busy summer season. Rairdan said the Texas situation has helped drive home the point that emergency preparedness needs to be taken seriously. 'We don't just talk about these things to talk about them,' Rairdan said. 'If something like that happens, you need to know what we're doing.' She said that for Bar Harbour, 170 kilometres south of Edmonton, wildfires are the biggest risk every year. Rairdan, who is also an Alberta Camping Association board member, said that in her 20 years of attending Bar Harbour — both as a camper and employee — a fire has never harmed the camp or led to an evacuation. But that doesn't mean the camp thinks it won't happen someday. 'We need to make sure that we know what we're doing so that, if we do happen to have a huge wildfire, we don't end up in a situation like that where we have all these casualties,' she said. With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025. Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Camp Mystic safety plans signed just days before deadly floods
Camp Mystic counselors had no walkie talkies during a flood that killed dozens of children and say they were unaware of an evacuation plan. The all-girls Christian summer camp, lost 27 campers and counselors after the Guadalupe River flooded and surged by up to 30 feet above its usual water level in the early hours of July 4. Five girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic as of Tuesday night. Newly released records show that Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning just two days before the camp was swept by raging floodwaters. The Department of State Health Services released records on Tuesday showing that the camp complied with a host of state regulations regarding 'procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster.' But some staffers alleged details of the plan had not been communicated and that they were woefully unprepared when disaster struck. The inspection found no deficiencies or violations in a comprehensive list of health and safety criteria at the camp. The records come as one Camp Mystic counselor shared they did not have communication devices during the flood. One counselor told CNN that while the owners and few leaders had walkie talkes, most of them did not. She also indicated that they had not received evacuation training. Earlier this week, counselor Caroline Cutrona (pictured) explained to the outlet that Camp Mystic has a no-screen policy, and staff members are required to turn off their phones while working. She said that because of this policy, she did not receive the weather emergency alerts sent out. 'As camp counselors, we turn in our phone when we don't have our time off. So, there was no alert or anything that I heard. No signal to know that anything was happening,' Cutrona said. 'We have just an overall loudspeaker... But, the power went out at about 4am at Camp Mystic. 'Once that power went out, I knew in my head, "Oh, we're not going to have reveille, which is what we wake up to." No announcements could have been made.' The camp's father-figure and owner, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, died while trying to save the young girls. A heartbreaking photo showed an entire cabin of Camp Mystic girls and counselors who were washed away in the horrific Texas floods. The 13 girls and two counselors were staying in Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin, which, alongside the Twins cabin, housed the youngest of the girls, aged 8 to 10. The cabins were less than 500 feet from the river and thus took in water from two directions: the Guadalupe River and a nearby creek, making the girls' escape particularly challenging.
