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MANTENO, Ill. (WLS) — As search and rescue efforts continue in Texas, the devastation is putting safety top of mind for local kids camps.
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At Camp Shaw-Waw-Nas-See, the Rock Creek water can get high, however the risk of flooding is low.
Regardless of the low risk, organizers say they have multiple emergency back up plans in place, including a manual siren.
“We have to be prepared to step in and do what needs to be done to keep them safe,” Camp Shaw assistant director Breanna Gifford said. “We do a week long staff training at the beginning of the summer with our counselors, and during that, we go over detailed emergency procedures for various different situation.”
The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday.
The likelihood of a flash flood is low in Manteno, Illinois, but that the risk of tornadoes and severe storms is present.
The camp has electric sirens that can be heard through every part of the 100 acre campgrounds, a manual siren as backup and every counselor walks around with a walkie talkie .
“The very first morning that they’re here at camp, they have a tornado drill so they hear that siren, they follow their counselors to the protected areas” Camp Shaw Board President Mark Steffen said.
Last summer, Camp Shaw experienced a tornado warning that activated their safety protocols.
Steffen said they only hire staff who understand in emergencies the kids have to come first.
“We end up caring about them a lot,” Gifford said. “So, then it is even more difficult to think about, you know, if an emergency were to happen, what we would need to do.”
When parents register their kids at Camp Shaw, they get a list of numbers and social media pages that are consistently updated, especially during emergencies.
ABC7 reached out to the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees campgrounds in state parks , for safety protocols but has yet to hear back.
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