Camp Mystic boss did not evacuate children until hour after first flood warning
Richard 'Dick' Eastland, the camp's executive director, did not immediately order an evacuation after the first text notification from the National Weather Service on July 4, the Washington Post reported.
Eastland died trying to save girls from the devastating flooding, which claimed the lives of 27 campers and counsellors. At least 130 people have died in total.
Cabins of some of the youngest girls staying in the camp just off the Guadalupe River were washed away in a matter of minutes.
The camp is situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River, a well-studied, high-risk flood zone, according to mapped data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
Some of the cabins were located in what is known as 'the floodway', with some low-lying cabins located on the 'flats' – just 225ft from the river bank.
On the night of the disaster, the first 'life-threatening' flash flood alert from the National Weather Service was issued to all Kerr County residents in Texas at approximately 1.14am.
The warning, which did not include an evacuation order, 'came fast' Richard Eastland Jr, Dick Eastland's son, told the newspaper.
Eastland immediately notified some adults at the camp via walkie talkie, and ordered them to 'assess the situation' as it unfolded, according to the Washington Post.
The camp's loud speaker system ran on electricity and was unusable during the chaos that followed.
The girls staying at Camp Mystic were also generally not allowed access to their phones or other electronic devices, per 2025 summer policies and procedures.
Eastland waited until 2.30am to begin evacuating campers, his family reportedly told the newspaper in a statement. He later died trying to evacuate the youngest campers from the scene.
Counsellors in the cabins closest to the river had to deal with the unfolding tragedy as the river swelled some 26ft in the space of 45 minutes.
Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin, which was located less than 500ft from the river, was quickly swept away. No survivors have been reported.
Jeff Carr, the Eastland family spokesman, told the newspaper that the family would be taking time to process the tragedy before making further comments.
'It will be important to go through this process and avoid sharing information on a piecemeal basis,' he said.
Dick and Tweety Eastland are the third generation to own and run the Christian all-girls camp, which has remained in their family since 1939, according to the camp's website.
It has a long history of flooding, according to reports.
In 1987, following the deaths of 10 children at a nearby camp, Dick Eastland successfully pushed for a new flood warning system to be installed.
However the system was said to have been shut down in 1999 as it had become 'unreliable' due to lack of repair and maintenance, local media reported.
Kerr County officials have come under fire for their failure to install a new flood warning system in the area, having suggested such a measure would be too 'extravagant'.
In a tribute to Dick Eastland on social media, George Eastland, his grandson, said: 'If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way—saving the girls that he so loved and cared for.'
He added: 'Although he no longer walks this earth, his impact will never fade in the lives he touched.'
Further heavy rain in Texas on Sunday temporarily paused the week-long search for victims, as storms damaged homes, stranded motorists and put some residents under evacuation orders.
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