INGRAM, Texas — Almost a month after the devastating July 4 flood and torrential waters mowed down houses, recreational vehicles, campgrounds, cabins and giant trees along the Guadalupe River in central Texas, working people here are struggling to get their lives together in the face of government indifference to the serious challenges they face.
There was no alarm system in Kerr County where most of the 135 deaths occurred. At this point, there are only two people still missing.
Ingram, a town of 1,800, is packed with children’s campgrounds, cabins and RV camps during the summer. Hunt, just 10 miles away, is the site of Camp Mystic, a 100-year-old all-girls’ camp where 27 children died as floodwaters rose over 26 feet in 45 minutes.
“Floods are common here, but the camps need to be built up on the hill,” Maria Diaz told the Militant while she was picking up water near a memorial for the flood victims in Kerrville. Floods are common near the river in Kerr County, hitting the area hard in 2002, 1998, 1987, 1978 and before.
“I worked at a camp for many years as the head cook. We weren’t near the river,” Diaz said. “My daughter is a postal worker and she lost her job because of the flood and is just getting back to work.”
Lisa Wager was leaving a Goodwill distribution center to aid flood victims when she spoke to the Militant. “I worked at the Guadalupe Keys RV campground. The owner went and warned everyone and got everybody out.”
“This summer I worked at another camp and I’ve lost a source of income I need to supplement Social Security,” she said. “Here there are floods all the time, nowadays there should be a warning system.”
No evacuation plan in place
Officials in Ingram say that county authorities did not give them any warnings or evacuation orders on the night of the flood, despite the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood warning with “catastrophic” potential for loss of life at 1:14 a.m.
“Why didn’t someone call me at 1:30 a.m.?” Mayor Claud Jordan asked at a meeting of the Ingram City Council July 21.
Some 200 people took part in a town hall meeting in Ingram July 22, advertised for people to learn about how they can get help. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly opened the meeting stating, “We are not here to take questions,” then introducing the panel. Armed law enforcement officers were at the doors.
“This was bigger than a 1,000-year flood. It was an inland tsunami,” Kerr County Engineer Charlie Hastings said.
But the way government “experts” label floods has little to do with how frequently they can be expected. By claiming that catastrophic hurricanes or floods are a once in a lifetime occurrence, government officials wash their hands of responsibility for not taking stronger measures to organize safe evacuation and prevent death and destruction.
Hastings said debris burning will not start until Labor Day and that it must be sorted a certain way or it will not be picked up. He said people who have applied for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency “have already had their forms returned with ‘declined’ and ‘need more information’” on the form. But he offered no help on how working people can navigate bureaucratic red tape to get much-needed aid.
FEMA says it will take up to 90 days to decide whether to accept appeals of its decisions to reject or limit an application for aid.
Martha Murayama was one of a large number of people who left the meeting early. Outside she told the Militant, “I lost everything. And we’ve already paid for debris removal.” She said she will need help rebuilding and “the meeting didn’t give me any information on this.”
Workers’ housing built in flood zones
Across Texas some 800,000 properties, 6.5% of the total, are constructed in areas designated by FEMA as Flood Special Hazard Areas. Under capitalism, areas like this have lower land values and that’s where profit-driven real estate developers build cheaper housing for working people with no regard to the dangers involved.
In a visit to the site of the Blue Oak RV camp near Kerrville, all that is left is some concrete where 28 RVs had been parked, and giant fallen trees.
Camp owner Lorena Guillen told Fox News that the rain started to come down around 1 a.m. By 2:30 a.m., she “went to check the water levels of the river.” At that point, she said, it looked fine. She called the Sheriff’s Office, which had no information to offer, so she went to sleep — only to be awoken between 3:30 and 4 a.m. by the lights of rescuers.
“It was so crazy, and I was going from RV to RV, banging on doors, getting everybody out. My husband got down all the way to his waist in the water just trying to rescue people. He was asking a guy ‘please throw me your baby’ and few seconds later, they got swept away,” she said. Everyone else survived.
In Euless, near Fort Worth, LaKaisha Lloyd had plenty to say about the consequence of the flood when Socialist Workers Party members knocked on her door. “There should always be an alarm system,” she said. “When what you have in place is nothing, you’re telling the people to fend for themselves.”
Interested in what they had to say about a working-class road forward, Lloyd bought a subscription to the Militant along with a copy of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power.
George Chalmers and Dennis Richter contributed to this article.