The parents of Katherine Ferruzzo, the 19-year-old counselor who died in last summer's flooding in the Texas Hill Country, are calling for changes at Camp Mystic.
CBS News reported that she had attended the all-girls Christian camp for 10 years and was among 27 people who died at the camp during the Fourth of July weekend floods, which killed more than 135 people across the region.
"Katherine died a hero. She gave her life trying to save those little girls," her mother, Andrea Ferruzzo, told CBS News.
The Ferruzzos said the tragedy was preventable and questioned the camp's plans to reopen one campus this summer.
"It just seems to me like it's all just business, business as usual," Andrea Ferruzzo said. "How could they be ready to accept campers back to their camp without addressing all of the issues that led to the tragedy?"
Early this month, the camp faced its fifth lawsuit related to the flooding. The latest was filed by the family of an 8-year-old camper who has not been found.
Camp Director Britt Eastland said of the reopening, "If we do it right, then the girls will have an amazing experience. They'll gain so much by being together. It can be very healing."
Eastland's father, Richard Eastland, who led the camp during the flood, also died while trying to move children to safety.
Families of those who died, calling themselves "Heaven's 27," supported legislation passed in Texas that prohibits camps in FEMA-designated floodplains and requires annual emergency training.
"We knew that change had to happen so that no other families send their children to camp only to have their child returned in a body bag," Andrea Ferruzzo said.
About 100 flood warning sirens are planned along the Guadalupe River.
"The sirens are a good start," Katherine's father, John Ferruzzo, said. "But then you must have an evacuation plan in place. The counselors have to be trained on what to do with their campers. There needs to be a communication system."
The Ferruzzos also founded the Katherine Ferruzzo Legacy Foundation, which has raised more than $1 million to support special education teachers.
Families of campers who died in last July's catastrophic floods say they are uneasy about Camp Mystic's plan to partially reopen this year.
Patrick Hotze, whose three daughters returned home safely after the flooding that killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors, said he understands the outrage from some parents.
"My heart is broken for them," Hotze said of the parents whose daughters died, including families he described as close friends. "I think it's different for each kid and each family."
Hotze said he plans to send his daughters back to the all-girls Christian sleepaway camp.
The 100-year-old camp began enrolling campers in January, with arrivals expected in May.
Campers this year would stay on higher ground than the area where rapidly rising water along the Guadalupe River swept away two cabins.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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