The Texas Senate and House General Investigating Committees on the July 2025 Flooding Events recently released their 115-page report on the negligence at Camp Mystic last summer, and it contains sobering information for employers about keeping everyone safe during a natural disaster that affects the workplace.

Amid the wider tragedy and the broader impact of the floods, 100-year-old Camp Mystic near Hunt, Texas, stands out for having lost 28 souls, including 25 young campers, two young adult counselors, and the camp’s co-executive director. . . . [T]his report is focused primarily on examining the preparation for, response to, and impact of the flooding at Camp Mystic. The lessons to be learned from the camp’s inadequate emergency planning and response are worthy of careful study for opportunities to avoid similar future tragedies.

The report pointed to several errors that contributed to the ruinous response of the camp owners to the unfolding natural disaster:

• Inadequacy of advance emergency planning. The report specifically points out that employees were not trained on how to respond in emergency situations. The written emergency plan wasn’t specific enough and there was no evacuation plan for the individual cabins. The written plan also wasn’t communicated well to staff, counselors or campers. In an area where cell phone service was unreliable, there was a public address system and walkie-talkies that were in working order that night, but they were never used to deliver evacuation instructions to the counselors or campers.
• Despite a long history of flooding in that area, despite most of the residential cabins and central facilities being located within an area FEMA once designated as “a special flood hazard area”, despite camp director Dick Eastland’s experience serving multiple terms on the Upper Guadalupe River Authority and his awareness of the area’s topography and its propensity to flood, the National Weather Service’s Flash Flood Warning issued at 1:14 a.m. was received by Dick Eastland, but no evacuations were undertaken until almost two hours later. Even then, the 39 adults who were present at the camp were not tasked to assist with orderly flood evacuation. No adult staff members received advanced assignments to help evacuate the children and many were unaware of the crisis as it was occurring. Some teenage counselors were left to their own devices when they realized the water was rising and there was no help coming. Some were able to save their campers by using better judgment than the adults.
• Once the sun rose and the flood waters receded, the communication completely broke down. “Parents of campers were traumatized by incomplete and conflicting information while waiting to learn whether their loved ones had survived.”

The report is a completely heartbreaking read, and it should also make you angry about the preventable deaths. But as a business owner, manager, HR director, or supervisor, the committee’s report should spur you to action. Look around your own business. Are you prepared for a natural disaster?

The OSHA General Duty Clause mandates employers to ensure a safe workplace. This clause, found in Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, requires employers to provide a work environment free from recognized hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm.

In the Texas Panhandle, recognized hazards include natural disasters. For example, flooding can certainly occur, and particularly if your business is located in a flood zone, you need to have emergency plans related to flooding.

But in our area, tornadoes and wildfires are even more likely. As we saw with the fast-moving fires that threatened Canyon in May, and the Stinky Fire that destroyed 55 homes in Amarillo, when disaster strikes, it is too late to start planning. All you can do is react once the warning is issued, which the folks at Camp Mystic did poorly. You may only have minutes to get everyone safe once the disaster strikes.

Instead, just like schools routinely hold fire drills, you can start planning and training now to prevent a tragedy later.

At a minimum, your business should have the following in place:

• Fire evacuation procedures: Do you have a written plan that every employee is aware of that tells employees to stop their work, leave the building, go to the predetermined safe gathering place, and check in with the person designated to assure that every employee is accounted for? Is there a plan to help disabled or vulnerable employees and customers? Is anyone trained in CPR and first aid? Do you have emergency contact information for every worker?
• Tornado planning: In case of tornado, where are the safe places to shelter in your building? Do you have a way to follow the weather and emergency reports when the power is out? Do you have first aid supplies on hand? If there is no cell service, how will you communicate? Does everyone know these instructions? And although it isn’t a life-or-death question, is your data safely copied to an off-site location?
• Communications: This may be the most critical piece of disaster planning. What training are you doing before the crisis? Have you distributed any written instructions? Who is giving instructions and critical updates to keep everyone safe during the disaster? How will communication happen if cell service is unavailable? Does everyone have a list of the emergency contacts and family member information if needed? How will you let people know when it is safe to return?