AUSTIN, Texas – State lawmakers will convene in Austin on Monday for the first public hearing examining the deadly July 4 floods, marking a major step in ongoing investigations led by newly formed joint committees in the Texas House and Senate.
The session, which begins at 10 a.m., will include testimony tied to flood response, preparedness and emergency planning failures. The hearing will be streamed live in this article, on KSAT Plus and KSAT.com. Delays are possible; if there’s no livestream available, check back at a later time.
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According to reporting from The Texas Tribune, this is the first open meeting of the joint legislative committees tasked with investigating the disaster and its aftermath. Lawmakers will also meet on Tuesday.
The hearings come two weeks after members of the Eastland family, which owns Camp Mystic, testified about the tragedy that claimed the lives of 27 girls and the camp’s director.
That testimony focused on conditions leading up to the flooding and the camp’s emergency preparedness.
Camp Mystic is currently seeking approval to reopen this summer. However, last week the camp was given 45 days to correct its emergency plans after the Texas Department of State Health Services found deficiencies across 22 separate categories in its current safety procedures.
Lawmakers are expected to hear additional testimony Monday and Tuesday as they examine how state and local systems responded during the flooding and whether warning and evacuation protocols were sufficient.