SURING, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Summer camps in Wisconsin are in full swing, and while the catastrophic flash flooding in Texas that has killed more than 100 people so far isn’t the number one concern at Northeast Wisconsin camps, the safety of campers and staff is certainly the top priority.
Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya in Oconto County has about 160 campers, plus three dozen staff members, on site this week. The Texas tragedy is not far from the minds of these staffers as they assess their surroundings.
At least 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic have died and at least 10 are still missing as a result of devastating flash flooding that swept through the region on the Fourth of July.
Camp Mystic is a private Christian summer camp for girls located on the banks of the Guadalupe River. About 750 children were at the camp when the flooding struck.
“We’re not on the side of a river. It’s not like our banks are going to rise in an hour. But we do have crazy weather. What if we had a bear come through? That’s still an emergency that we need to plan for,” said Mandy Smith, director of program operations at Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya.
Staff and campers regularly run through different scenarios to keep everyone safe.
According to Camp Director Max Clark, “We practice weekly storm drills. We practice all camp gatherings. We practice intruder drills and protocols. We go over training for a violent intruder, a fire. All of those different things.”
That practice came in handy back in 2019, when a microburst from a summer storm hit the camp.
“About 9 o’clock that thing rolled in, and when that wind hit, the trees — they bent to a 45-degree angle and started falling down,” recalled Clark.
The storm toppled about 3,000 trees and blocked roads in and around the camp.
While no campers were on site that night, staff members were seeking shelter indoors, leading to no injuries. The incident was a good learning experience that led to safety upgrades on site.
“As we build new cabins, there are storm basements in those. They can go right into those areas. We backed up every area, and every well in our camp is now backed up by natural gas generators, so if power goes out, our facility kicks back on,” added Clark.
Even before a storm hits, precautions are taken to get campers and staff close to shelter, so that they can access it quickly, if needed.
Camp officials say weather conditions are constantly being monitored, communications is key and any threatening or dangerous situation is quickly shared camp wide to keep everyone safe.
