The 100-page lawsuit filed in Travis County alleges the Eastland family, who owns the camp, failed to take accountability for not evacuating the camp.
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — The family of the last missing camper, who died in the catastrophic Hill Country floods, has filed a lawsuit against Camp Mystic.
It’s the fifth lawsuit filed against the camp, after 27 campers and counselors died on the Fourth of July.
It’s been seven months and Cile Steward is still missing.
The 100-page lawsuit filed in Travis County alleges the Eastland family, who owns the camp, failed to take accountability for not evacuating the camp.
The lawsuit claims between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., the Eastlands moved canoes to higher ground and received a Flash Flood Warning from the National Weather Service at 1:14 a.m.
The lawsuit states that around 3 a.m., Dick Eastland, who was killed, decided to evacuate only the cabins closest to the river.
It goes on to say that Cile and others in her cabin could hear Camp Director Edward Eastland telling them to “stay put in their cabins until the water got so high they couldn’t stay any longer.”.
The lawsuit says about half an hour later, they were told the water was too high to leave and that it would soon recede.
The Eastlands didn’t consider the camp’s own history of flooding, according to the suit.
In a statement, an attorney for Camp Mystic responded saying in part: “We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwater far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and unforeseeable, and that no adequate early warning flood systems existed in the area. We disagree with the misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well.”
The Stewards are requesting a jury trial and at least $1,000,000 in damages.