KERRVILLE, Texas – The families of 12 Hill Country flood victims have been added to the lawsuit against a Hill Country campground.
They were added to an amended court petition, originally filed by the family of Jada Floyd, seeking at least $1 million in monetary damages from the HTR TX Hill Country Resort.
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The lawsuit alleges the Kerrville resort’s owners, developers, general manager and management companies were negligent in the preparation and evacuation related to flooding on July 4.
“Defendants were objectively aware of the extreme risk posed by the conditions which caused Plaintiffs’ injuries,” the petition said, “but did nothing to rectify them.”
Among the additional families are those who lost loved ones staying at the resort on the morning of July 4, including:
- The children of Richard Pagard
- The son and mother of Cody Crossland
- The husband and daughter of Linda Bason
- The daughter of Deana Hillock
- The parents of Amber Wilson and Jeffrey Wilson
- The grandparents of Shiloh Wilson
- The widow and children of Steve Edwards
Elida Sierra-Lutz and her three children were also added to the amended petition after suffering severe injuries from the floods while staying at the resort.
The defendants in the petition are listed as The Davis Companies Inc., investors of the HTR TX Hill Country; HTR Kerrville, which owns the land of the resort; Blue Water Development, believed to be the company that operates the resort; and Ilana Callahan, the general manager of the campground.
According to the suit, the defendants continued to operate the resort despite being aware of the risk of flooding and allegedly did not warn guests of this risk.
“Defendants lacked proper plans, protocol, and equipment to respond to the flooding,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants failed to implement sufficient infrastructure improvements and maintenance to establish and maintain a safe means of egress from the property to safety.”
The suit stated that there were 11 Flash Flood Warnings from officials between July 2 and July 4, which “were ignored” by the defendants.
“Surviving guests of the HTR TX Hill Country Resort campground report that it was someone honking a car horn that awoke them, and they were barely able to escape with their lives as the water rose from ankle deep to waist deep in minutes,” the lawsuit alleges.
KSAT reached out to a spokesperson for HTR TX Hill Country, who sent the following statement:
“As we stated when this lawsuit was originally filed, it has been widely acknowledged by state and local authorities, meteorologists, and other experts that no one could have anticipated the unprecedented severity and rapid onset of the flooding in July, and this tragedy has exposed serious failures in public warning systems and emergency response protocols.
“The tragic events that occurred as a result have been devastating to the Kerrville community, and our hearts go out to all of those who were impacted. We continue to reject the lawsuit’s fundamental premise and will be prepared to vigorously defend ourselves in court.”
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