By Freda Ross
As the first anniversary of the deadly flooding at Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country approaches, stories from the flood are being featured in an exhibit in Washington, D.C.
“Stolen Summers: The Next 250” is an immersive public art installation focused on floods, fires, extreme heat, storms and other disasters. The exhibit, held on the National Mall on the eve of America’s 250th anniversary, includes the experiences of 250 survivors of natural disasters from all 50 states.
Keli Rabon, an advocate for the group Extreme Weather Survivors, said her sons Brock, then 7, and Braeden, then 9, were attending Camp Mystic when floodwaters rose last year.
“No one prepares you for how to talk to your kids after a near-death experience,” Rabon pointed out. “You literally pick your kid up from this devastating situation in which you never could have prepared for and you walk away with no guidebook.”
As the floodwaters rose, 25 campers and two counselors were killed. A recent report found Camp Mystic did not have state-required written emergency plans and counselors did not evacuate campers even though they knew storms were moving into the area.
Rabon noted Brock’s cabin flooded, and he and 59 other boys survived by climbing into the rafters of the building. She added the boys considered whether they could “punch a hole through the roof of the cabin.”
“There was one boy whose job was to keep an eye on the glowing red exit sign because he knew there were doors underneath it,” Rabon recounted. “It was kids trying to save kids.”
Braeden’s cabin did not flood but he spent several hours in the dark without knowing whether his brother was OK.
Rabon emphasized she had to seek mental health services for herself and her sons without government assistance. She added they are all improving but Brock remains hyper-vigilant about weather.
“At the first sign of a storm, he wants to look at the phone and track the weather,” Rabon observed. “In the immediate aftermath, there were hallucinations, waking up thinking that the ceiling was leaking or that his bed was wet.”
According to Extreme Weather Survivors, 30 million Americans said extreme weather has significantly harmed their lives.
