The family of a 22-year-old probation officer, who was killed in the deadly floods that ravaged Kerr County, Texas, filed what’s believed to be the first lawsuit since the disaster.
Flash floods slammed Kerr County and its surrounding areas last month, claiming at least 135 lives. The regions along the Guadalupe River were hit particularly hard as heavy rain caused the body of water to rise 36 feet.
Jayda Floyd, a 22-year-old from Odessa, Texas, died after floodwaters deluged a luxury RV park and campground along the Guadalupe River on July 4, the lawsuit states. Her parents, Christie and David Floyd, are suing campground owners and its general manager, seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Floyd, her fiancé Bailey Martin, and his family were staying at the HTR TX Hill Country Resort on the evening of July 3 into the following morning, when severe floods hit.
The defendants were aware of the risk of “catastrophic flooding” but didn’t warn Floyd or Martin of this risk, the filing states. The lawsuit lays out the timeline of alerts sent by local and national officials, starting on July 2.
The defendants were “negligent” for failing to establish proper storm and flood monitoring procedures, to safely and timely evacuate the property, and to warn guests of the risk of flooding, the suit claims.
The defendants placed “guests in a known floodplain with a history of dangerous flooding” and installed structures on the campground that were not “designed to withstand flooding conditions,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The flood waters scraped the structures from the HTR TX Hill Country Resort, leaving a barren wasteland,” the lawsuit states, alongside a photo of the aftermath of the damage.
The Independent has reached out to HTR TX Hill Country Resort for a response to the family’s claims. A message on the resort’s website reads: “Due to severe weather and flooding in the area, our campground is currently closed for the safety of our guests and staff.”
On the morning of July 4, Floyd helped Martin’s teenage step-siblings climb to the roof of the RV, saving their lives as floodwaters rose, lawyers for her family said in a press release.
Floyd served as a juvenile probation officer in Ector County and was pursuing her master’s degree in psychology at the University of Texas Permian Basin. The 22-year-old had dreamed of helping at-risk youth.
“She was someone who was going to make a difference in the lives of people, particularly kids,” her father, David Floyd, said in a statement.
The family is hoping for some accountability, the family’s lawyers said.
“Businesses operating campgrounds along the river have known about its flooding history for decades,” Jon Clark, an attorney for the family, said in a statement. “We will investigate what steps — if any — were taken to monitor conditions and warn guests of the danger they were in.”
Texas officials have faced scrutiny for their response to and warnings about the catastrophic floods.
The National Weather Service sent out a string of flash flood warnings on the afternoon of July 3 before issuing flash flood emergencies in the wee hours of July 4, alerting locals that the weather posed a a severe threat.
Last month, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency defended his agency’s response.
“I can’t see anything we did wrong,” David Richardson told a House panel.
Meteorologists and local officials also supported the emergency response efforts.
“The forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It’s always about getting people to receive the message,” Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist based in Wisconsin, told NBC News in the days after the floods.
