CWA Blog Archive-Disasters Plans All Climbing Gyms Can Have In Place

Disasters Plans All Climbing Gyms Can Have In Place

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CWA General Counsel Robert Angell opens with the July 2025 Texas Hill Country floods, which killed at least 135 people including campers and staff at Camp Mystic, to make an uncomfortable but important point: disasters happen, and preparation saves lives. The Guadalupe River floods almost yearly, but this event exceeded even the National Weather Service's forecasts, warnings went out while many slept, and reporting noted that cabins built too close to the river suffered the worst, while camps on higher ground sustained damage without loss of life. Preparation and siting made the difference. The lesson generalizes. Your gym may not sit in a flood plain, but hazards of some kind exist everywhere. Angell notes that tornadoes have occurred in every state and every month of the year, and that no location is truly hazard-free. The point isn't to predict which disaster will strike, it's to recognize that some disruptive event, flood, tornado, fire, extended power loss, is a matter of when, not if, over a facility's lifetime. The article's practical value is in steps operators can put in place beforehand, and it repeatedly references Ready.gov for established best practices on advance preparation. The framing is that disaster planning isn't paranoia, it's basic operational responsibility that protects staff, members, and the business. For decision makers and senior managers, the message is to assess the specific hazards your location faces, build response plans before you need them, and lean on existing resources like Ready.gov rather than improvising. The Camp Mystic tragedy underscores the stakes: the gap between prepared and unprepared can be the gap between damage and loss of life.

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Using the deadly July 2025 Texas floods, CWA General Counsel Robert Angell argues disaster planning is basic operational responsibility, not paranoia. Every location faces some hazard, and tornadoes have hit every state in every month. Assess your specific risks and build response plans in advance, using Ready.gov's best practices.