More Could Have Been Saved, Says Camp Mystic Guard

The security guard at Texas' Camp Mystic the night of last year's deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation order had been issued early in the storm, lives could have been saved. Glenn Juenke, who helped move girls to a two-story building before becoming trapped inside a cabin himself, also saved a group of campers when he told them to run to higher ground as floodwaters rose, the AP reports. He testified at the end of a three-day court hearing in Austin in a legal fight between the camp operators, who want to reopen the all-girls Christian Camp this summer, and families of some of the victims who died in the July 4th flood that swept through the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours.

Juenke, who was called as a witness for the camp operators, said it was his decision to tell campers to scramble on foot up a hillside as floodwaters rose, not an order from camp directors or authorities. He said he did not recall camp operators ever training the campers, counselors and staff on where to go in case an emergency evacuation was needed. Juenke defended the rescue effort and camp director Edward Eastland at first, per the San Antonio Express-News. But under cross-examination, Juenke acknowledged that more children could have been saved if someone had used a functioning loudspeaker or walkie-talkie radio to call for more able-bodied adults to direct campers to safer buildings.