Latest news with #Richard'Dick'Eastland
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas's Camp Mystic was ‘a place of joy'. Floods turned it into a site of great loss
The loss of 27 campers and counsellors from Camp Mystic to the Texas Hill Country flood may serve, at a terrible cost, to expand its considerable reputation across Texas and beyond. Even as the floods claimed more lives along the valley – at least 120 confirmed dead and 160 people unaccounted for as of Tuesday – the loss of several 'Mystic Girls' has dominated the headlines. The camp, which offers two four-week terms and one two-week term over the summer, has been the go-to summer camp for daughters of Texans for nearly a century. It's so popular that fathers have been known to call the registrar to get their daughters on the list from the delivery room. The camp, which spans more than 700 acres, has been widely described as an all-girls Christian camp, lending an image of baptisms in the river, but the religious component may be overstated: the camp is known as one of dozens along the Guadalupe River where Texan families send their young to escape the brutal heat of the lowlands. Related: Everything we know about Texas flooding – with visuals Now at least one-half of Camp Mystic, which was due to celebrate its centenary next year, lies in ruins, torn apart by raging floodwaters. The sound of song and girls playing has been replaced by the sound of chainsaws and heavy equipment as 19 state agencies and thousands of volunteers work to search and clear mounds of flood debris along the river, including the muddied personal items of the campers. Five days after the flood, the task along the valley has become a search-and-recovery operation: no one has been rescued from the river alive since Friday. In addition to the lost girls, Camp Mystic's director, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, a fourth-generation owner of the camp, died while attempting to bring five girls to safety. 'It tugs at the heart of anyone in the world that sees the pictures of those little faces,' said Claudia Sullivan, author of a book on the Camp Mystic experience, Heartfelt: A Memoir of Camp Mystic Inspirations. 'To know that they were there, having the time of their life, that they were innocent, and then to be taken away in such a tragic event – it takes you to your knees.' Most alumni contacted by the Guardian indicated they were too upset to discuss the camp, or its reputation, as Texas Monthly put it in a 2011 article, for serving 'as a near-flawless training ground for archetypal Texas women'. It has served generations of Texas women, often from well-to-do or politically connected Texas families, including the former first lady Laura Bush, who was a counsellor, and the daughters and granddaughters of Lyndon Johnson, former secretary of state James Baker, and Texas governors Price Daniel, Dan Moody and John Connally. *** The camp may have been incorrectly characterized as a 'Christian' camp. 'That evokes the idea of church camp but that's not the case,' said Sullivan. 'It's a private camp for girls that holds Christian values. When I was there we spent a lot of time talking about being kind to one another and having compassion, and there were people from other denominations and faiths.' Camp Mystic is better understood, Sullivan added, as being in a place free from pressure. 'You're in nature, in a beautiful setting, and really removed from the world', said Sullivan. 'It's a place of joy and innocence – or was. My sense is that it will definitely be rebuilt, but it's awfully early.' The outpouring of grief and rush to support the community have been striking. A church memorial service was held on Monday in San Antonio for the 'Mystic girls' who had been lost. Many dressed in the camp's green and white, together in song and prayer. It was not possible to get to the camp on Tuesday, a tailback of 2.5 hours extended across the seven miles from Hunt, the nearest hamlet, to Camp Mystic. At the season's peak in July and August, the camp hosted 750 girls aged between seven and 17 years old – that's more than half of Hunt's population of about 1,300. At Ingram, a riverbank town that also lost dozens from RV camps and homes to the flood, emergency workers and volunteers were pitching in, in many cases in the hope of recovering people still lost, and many bodies probably hidden under large piles of river debris, shattered homes and mangled possessions. John Sheffield, owner of Ingram's Ole Ingram Grocery, said the flood had not recognized social differences and nor would the recovery effort: 'This is Americans taking care of Americans. There's been such a tremendous outpouring of support and compassion.' Down by the river, search crews were continuing to comb through debris and mud. Claud Johnson, the mayor of Ingram, was operating a digger up by Hunt. An EMS van pulled up, suggesting another body had been found. Helicopters continued to move overhead despite an incident on Monday when one was struck by a privately operated drone and was forced to make an emergency landing. There's been such a tremendous outpouring of support and compassion John Sheffield Three baristas from the Aftersome Coffee stand in San Antonio had come up to serve recovery workers. Allyson Bebleu said she had gone to church camp and it had given her some of her fondest memories. 'It's not just for the wealthiest families, people of all types go to camp,' she said. 'Everyone is putting themselves in the shoes of the Camp Mystic girls. It's tragic.' Camp Mystic was also the subject of a controversial video recently posed by Sade Perkins, a former member of Houston's Food Insecurity Board. Perkins was 'permanently removed' by John Whitmire, the Houston mayor, after she called Camp Mystic a 'whites only' conservative Christian camp without even 'a token Asian, they don't have a token Black person'. Richard Vela, whose 13-year-old daughter Maya was evacuated from a nearby camp, Camp Honey Creek, on Friday and was still too upset to discuss it, said Perkins' comments 'were not right. You don't talk about people like that. There's a lot of death going on and they still haven't found everybody.' *** Bruce Jerome, who was manning an outreach for flood survivors in Ingram, said he had known Jane Ragsdale, the director and longtime co-owner of Heart O' the Hills Camp, in Hunt, Texas, who had died in the flooding. 'She was just genuinely wonderful,' Jerome said. Further down the track to the river was Josey Garcia, a Democratic representative for San Antonio in the Texas state house. She and her team were also picking through the debris, pointing out vast piles that still need to be be sifted through. Garcia, a military veteran, said it was important to come 'and collaborate with our neighbors here to recover those that are missing and help Kerr county clean up. We've had folks coming from Laredo and outstate Kansas to lend assistance. It's showing the spirit of Texas – when it comes to lives being devastated it's our duty to step.' Garcia, too, rejected negative characterizations of Camp Mystic. 'I've been hearing a lot of the rhetoric that's been going around. This is not the time for those types of distinctions. I don't care who was at the camp. All I know is that there are parents and families that are missing their loved ones. Whether it's rich Caucasian children or any other children, we'd still be there.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
10-07-2025
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Camp Mystic Had a Disaster Plan before the Flood — but Questions Linger
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.'
09-07-2025
- Climate
Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic's disaster plan 2 days before deadly flood, records show
HUNT, Texas -- Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning just two days before catastrophic flooding killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp, most of them children. The Department of State Health Services released records Tuesday showing the camp complied with a host of state regulations regarding 'procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster.' Among them: instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counselor. Five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press do not offer any details of those plans at Mystic, raising new questions about the camp's preparedness ahead of the torrential July 4 rainfall in flood-prone Texas Hill Country. The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for the area July 3 at 1:18 p.m. That danger prompted at least one of the roughly 18 camps along the Guadalupe River to move dozens of campers to higher ground. The uncertainty about what happened at Mystic comes as local officials have repeatedly dodged questions about who was monitoring the weather and what measures were taken ahead of the flooding. Camp Mystic, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was especially hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes in the early morning hours. Flooding on that stretch of the Guadalupe starts at about 10 feet (3 meters). A wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river's edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. At least 27 campers and counselors died during the floods, and officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found. Among the dead was Richard 'Dick' Eastland, the camp's beloved director described by campers as a father figure. Charlotte Lauten, 19, spent nine summers at Camp Mystic, mostly recently in 2023. She said she didn't recall ever receiving instructions as a camper on what do in the case of a weather emergency. 'I do know that the counselors go through orientation training for a week before camp starts," she said. "They do brief them on all those types of things.' One thing that likely hindered the girls' ability to escape was how dark it would have been, Lauten said. Campers don't have access to their phones while at camp, she said, adding they wouldn't have cell service anyway because of the remote location. 'This is the middle of nowhere and they didn't have power," she said. 'It would have been pitch black, like could not see 5 feet in front of you type of darkness. I've never seen stars like there because there's just no light.' The state inspected Camp Mystic on July 2, the same day the Texas Division of Emergency Management activated emergency response resources ahead of the anticipated flooding. The inspection found no deficiencies or violations at the camp in a long list of health and safety criteria. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers at the time between its Guadalupe and Cypress Lake locations. The disaster plans are required to be posted in all camp buildings but aren't filed with the state, said Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. 'We do not have them,' Anton said in an email. 'You'd have to get it from the camp.' Camp Mystic did not respond to requests for comment on its emergency plan. In a statement on its website, the camp said it has been 'in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.' Camps are responsible for developing their own emergency plan. Inspectors evaluate the plans to ensure they meet several state requirements, including procedures for evacuation. 'The inspector checked that they had plans posted for those elements in every building," Anton said, 'and that they had trained staff and volunteers on what to do.' Camp Mystic is licensed by the state and a member of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress, which says its goal is to 'raise health and safety standards' for summer camps. Leaders of that association didn't return messages. The American Camp Association said Tuesday that Camp Mystic is not accredited with that organization, whose standards focus on safety and risk management. Spokesperson Lauren McMillin declined to say whether the camp previously had been accredited with the association, which describes itself as 'the only nationwide accrediting organization for all year-round and summer camps.' One rain gauge about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic recorded 9.5 inches (24 centimeters) of precipitation July 4, according to Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority data. Another of the agency's gauges — further south and to the west — recorded 12.2 inches (31 centimeters) of precipitation. The authority told the AP that a review of its equipment found both were functioning during the flood event. However, at least four United States Geological Survey gauges along the Guadalupe River experienced some level of failure July 4. The gauges, located near Hunt and Kerrville, stopped collecting both river levels and the flow rate of water in the early morning hours of July 4. One gauge, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Camp Mystic, recorded a level of 29.5 feet (9 meters) at 4:35 a.m., according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. It was the last recorded river level from the instrumentation until a USGS hydrologist installed a temporary gauge. At the time, the hydrologist measured the high water mark at 37.52 feet (11.44 meters). At that location, a river level of 32 feet (9.75 meters) could lead to 'disastrous life-threatening flooding,' which could cover the roads of the lowest camps and resorts, according to NOAA. ___ This story has been updated to correct that the rain gauge that recorded 9.5 inches (24 centimeters) of precipitation was about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic, not 1,500 feet (460 meters). ___
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's disaster plan just 2 days before deadly flood
Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning just two days before catastrophic flooding killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp, most of them children. Debris covers the area of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, Monday, July 7, 2025, after a flash flood swept through the area. (AP) The Department of State Health Services released records Tuesday showing the camp complied with a host of state regulations regarding 'procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster.' Among them: instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counselor. Five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press do not offer any details of those plans at Mystic, raising new questions about the camp's preparedness ahead of the torrential July 4 rainfall in flood-prone Texas Hill Country. The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for the area on July 3 at 1:18 p.m. That danger prompted at least one of the roughly 18 camps along the Guadalupe River to move dozens of campers to higher ground. Camp Mystic, established in 1926, did not do that and was especially hard hit when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes in the early morning hours of the disaster. Flooding on that stretch of the Guadalupe starts at about 10 feet (3 meters). A wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river's edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. The uncertainty about what happened at Mystic comes as local officials have repeatedly dodged questions about who was monitoring the weather and what measures were taken ahead of the flooding. At least 27 campers and counselors died during the floods, and officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found. Among the dead was Richard 'Dick' Eastland, the camp's beloved director described by campers as a father figure. The potential for heavy rains had put precautions in motion as the state activated an emergency response plan and moved resources into the central Texas area. The state inspected Camp Mystic on July 2, the same day the Texas Division of Emergency Management activated emergency response resources ahead of the anticipated flooding. The inspection found no deficiencies or violations at the camp in a long list of health and safety criteria. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers at the time between its Guadalupe and Cypress Lake locations. The disaster plans are required to be posted in all camp buildings but aren't filed with the state, said Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. 'We do not have them,' Anton wrote in an email. 'You'd have to get it from the camp.' Camp Mystic did not respond to requests for comment on its emergency plan. In a statement on its website, the camp said it has been 'in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.' Camp Mystic notes that it is licensed by the state and a member of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress, which says its goal is to 'raise health and safety standards' for summer camps. Leaders of that association didn't return messages. The American Camp Association said Tuesday that Camp Mystic is not accredited with that organization, whose standards focus on safety and risk management. Spokesperson Lauren McMillin declined to say whether the camp previously had been accredited with the association, which describes itself as 'the only nationwide accrediting organization for all year-round and summer camps.' One rain gauge about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic recorded 9.5 inches (24 centimeters) of precipitation July 4, according to Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority data. Another of the agency's gauges — further south and to the west — recorded 12.2 inches (31 centimeters) of precipitation. The authority told the AP that a review of its equipment found both were functioning during the flood event. However, at least four United States Geological Survey gauges along the Guadalupe River experienced some level of failure July 4. The gauges, located near Hunt and Kerrville, stopped collecting both river levels and the flow rate of water in the early morning hours of July 4. One gauge, about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) east of Hunt and 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Camp Mystic, recorded a level of 29.5 feet (9 meters) at 4:35 a.m. on July 4, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. It was the last recorded river level from the instrumentation until a USGS hydrologist installed a temporary gauge. At the time, the hydrologist measured the high water mark at 37.52 feet (11.44 meters), a preliminary estimate that could change. At that location, a river level of 32 feet (9.75 meters) could lead to 'disastrous life-threatening flooding,' which could cover the roads of the lowest camps and resorts, according to NOAA.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
09-07-2025
- General
- First Post
Certified safe, proven fatal: Camp Mystic's disaster plan under scrutiny after deadly Texas flood
Five years of Camp Mystic inspection reports revealed that key details regarding the implementation of safety and emergency measures were missing read more A Camp Mystic sign is seen at the site. Source: AP Texas' ill-fated Camp Mystic may not have been following state regulations regarding emergency measures, despite it having received green light from state inspectors just two days before flash flooding killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp. News agency Associated Press accessed five years of inspection reports and found that key details regarding the implementation of safety and emergency measures were missing. On Tuesday (July 8), the Department of State Health Services released documents showing how the camp was following state regulations regarding disaster response. Among them was instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counsellor. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, inspection reports accessed by AP didn't have those details. How tragedy unfolded The camp, whose history dates back to 1926, didn't order immediate evacuation even after the Guadalupe River rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within an hour. According to figures released Tuesday, at least 27 campers and counsellors died during the floods. Among the dead was Richard 'Dick' Eastland, the camp's beloved director described by campers as a father figure. 'Never received emergency instructions' Charlotte Lauten, 19, attended Camp Mystic for nine summers, most recently in 2023. She noted that she never received guidance as a camper on handling weather emergencies. Lauten mentioned that the darkness likely made it difficult for the girls to escape. She explained that campers lack access to phones during camp and that the remote location has no cell service. Nod from inspectors On July 2, the Texas Department of State Health Services inspected Camp Mystic, coinciding with the Texas Division of Emergency Management's activation of emergency resources due to expected flooding. The inspection found no issues across numerous health and safety standards. At the time, the camp hosted 557 campers and over 100 staff members across its Guadalupe and Cypress Lake sites. Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, stated that while disaster plans must be displayed in all camp buildings, they are not required to be submitted to the state. 'We do not have them,' Anton said in an email. 'You'd have to get it from the camp.' 'The inspector checked that they had plans posted for those elements in every building,' Anton said, 'and that they had trained staff and volunteers on what to do.'
