Camp Mystic Had a Disaster Plan before the Flood — but Questions Linger

Yomiuri Shimbun

10-07-2025

Texas state officials inspected Camp Mystic and certified it had a disaster plan in place two days before floods swept through the Christian girls camp in the Hill Country last weekend, killing at least 27 campers and counselors.
An inspector from the Texas Department of State Health Services visited the camp in Hunt on July 2, according to records released by the state Tuesday and first reported by the Associated Press.
The records note that Camp Mystic met state requirements to have a 'written plan of procedures' to follow 'in case of a disaster' posted in camp offices and to make 'all camp staff and volunteers' aware of the plan.
But the documents do not include any information on the contents of the plan, or what type of training staff and volunteers might have been given to ensure the safety of the more than 700 campers in residence when the floods hit.
Major questions remain about how the tragedy unfolded at the nearly century-old camp, particularly in the cabins close to the river that housed most of the girls and staff who died. They include not only whether the disaster plan was sufficient and staff had adequate preparation, but whether camp staff were aware of the flood risk from forecasted storms heading into the July Fourth weekend.
At least 109 people have died due to the floods, including at least 30 children, and more than 170 are missing. Five Mystic campers and one counselor were still unaccounted for as of Wednesday morning.
The camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Camp Mystic is one of several summer camps located along the Guadalupe River, deep in the Texas Hill Country. Many of them sit near or within areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as high-risk flood zones, The Washington Post has reported.
The area is part of a broader band of Central Texas known as Flash Flood Alley because of its vulnerability to deadly flooding. Texas youth camps are required by the state to have plans for disaster preparedness, and Kerr County instituted flood damage prevention laws in 2020 requiring buildings in flood areas to be elevated.
But Camp Mystic leaders and county officials have said that the severity of the rainfall and how quickly water levels rose early Friday caught them off guard.
'We've never had water this high, ever,' said Richard Eastland Jr., whose father, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, ran Camp Mystic and died after trying to save campers in the flood.
Officials have faced scrutiny over whether Camp Mystic and others in at-risk zones were given adequate warning of the flood risk. The National Weather Service first issued a flood watch for a wide swath of the Hill Country on Thursday afternoon. It said rainfall of up to seven inches was possible – around half of what ended up falling around Camp Mystic.
Early Friday, many campers were jolted awake to the sound of thunder or woke up as rain beat down on their cabins and water started rushing in. The floodwater rose high and fast, forcing some of the counselors to toss younger girls through their cabin's doors and windows they'd broken open. They guided younger campers to higher ground on 'Senior Hill,' an area where the older campers live.
They moved quickly, scrambling up the hill, some of them barefoot.
In 'the flats,' the lower end of the camp holding the Bubble Inn and Twins cabins where the youngest girls sleep, floodwater soon surrounded them from two directions, rising from the Guadalupe River and a nearby creek. Through the night, Dick Eastland had been trying to evacuate the younger campers to safer land after the storm began. But soon, the floodwater outpaced him. Escape became impossible.
It was in those lower cabins where most of the girls who are confirmed to have died were staying.
Eastland was later found by his car, along with three girls he had tried to save. He died on the way to a hospital.
Local, state and federal teams conducted hundreds of water rescues Friday as the floodwaters swept through Kerr County.
Accounts have emerged of how some Camp Mystic children were taken to safety. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem highlighted the efforts of a Coast Guard team from Corpus Christi, Texas, that reached Camp Mystic at about 2:30 p.m. by helicopter. They had set out earlier that day, but were delayed by poor weather.
Rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan was greeted by campers shivering, drenched and covered in mud, he told The Post. He tried to console the children as rescuers bundled them into helicopters for evacuation.
'You're just carrying kids that don't have shoes on, they're covered in mud, and you're trying to get them out of there,' Ruskan said.
Other campers located in sections of Camp Mystic that escaped the worst of the floodwaters were evacuated by bus. A TikTok video posted by a camp nurse shows girls singing Christian hymns as their vehicle drives by toppled trees and piles of debris.
In the days after the deadly floods, rescuers searched for survivors through the destruction at Mystic, now a scene of downed trees, muddied cabins, overturned cars and campers' belongings. Parents came too, picking through the debris for signs of their missing children.
Remnants of the once-bright place that had days earlier hosted hundreds of cheerful children are now scattered along the campsite – including backpacks, plush toys, art supplies and colorful trunks.
In a statement Monday morning, Mystic said it was in contact with officials searching for their missing campers and counselors.
'Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,' Mystic's statement said. 'We are praying for them constantly.'