July 4 floods: Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Kerrville RV campsite

KERR COUNTY, Texas - The families of several people who were killed at an RV resort in Kerrville during the July 4 floods are suing the company, accusing them of not notifying guests of the oncoming flood.

What they're saying:

Steve Edwards, 72, is one of nine deceased named in the lawsuit.

Steve and his wife, Marilyn, who are from San Angelo, were staying at the HTR TX Hill Country resort along the Guadalupe River. Their daughters, Allison and Courtney Edwards, were going to meet them there for the Fourth of July weekend. 

Then the floodwaters came. 

"When my parents were in the RV, my dad finally got the door open, but the water was rising, and they both got swept, so they weren't together at any point during that time," Allison said. 

Marilyn clung to a tree branch for hours before she was rescued. She had to have reconstructive hand surgery. First responders were already in the area when Allison and Courtney got there. 

"Trying to figure out what the next steps were and trying to find and locate our parents, I think that was the hardest part," Allison said. 

It wasn't for a few days until they got the call that their father had passed away. 

"It was hard. My sister and I were kind of preparing ourselves. It had been a few days, and we knew it was the difference between recovery and rescue," Allison said. "My dad was a fighter, and I know he did the best he could to try to get back to us. It's just unfortunate, it just didn't happen, those waters were too high and too rough."

She says her father loved his family and sports. 

"My dad was such a good man, and he was a hard worker, and he loved life," she said.

She wanted to file a lawsuit so others don't go through what she did. 

"There were so many lives lost. I think it's just a whole tragedy, and it's devastating. Knowing that your family was a part of it, it's like, then I want do something about it so it doesn't happen again to people," Allison said.

The Edwards' attorney, Joe Caputo with Williams Caputo Injury Lawyers, says those running the campsite didn't notifying guests of oncoming danger, and lives could've been saved if there was a warning system. 

"We're trying to raise awareness about what happened and we are trying to demand accountability. Why was this something that the people that were staying there and paying a fee for, why weren't they alerted?" Caputo said.

The lawsuit names the owners, managers, and investors of HTR TX Hill Country campground as defendants. 

"What we want to look at is how are all these investors and owners related? What were their duties? How were they managing this property? Do they have a policy for monitoring these types of weather events?" Caputo said. 

The lawsuit lays out the times emergency management agencies put out flood alerts. Caputo says there was no notice of flooding at the campsite until water was in the Edwards' RV. He wants to make sure that campgrounds have weather alert processes. 

"Was there a process, and it just wasn't followed and where do we miss on those crucial steps so that we can prevent it from happening again, or was there no process at all, which may be an even bigger problem," Caputo said.

Allison says she wants to get justice for the father. 

"He lived a good 72 years, but I wish it would have been longer and not tragedy happening to him, but I know he's looking down on us and taking care of us and keeping us safe," she said.

The other side:

HTR TX Hill Country released 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."