Families of nine Camp Mystic flood victims filed a federal lawsuit against six Texas Department of State Health Services officials Monday, seeking damages for what they allege was a failure to enforce state law requiring youth camps to have evacuation plans. The state licensed Camp Mystic knowing it lacked an adequate evacuation plan, the suit alleges. The camp’s emergency instructions directed children to stay in their cabins during floods, contrary to Texas regulations requiring youth camps to develop disaster evacuation procedures. Twenty-seven Camp Mystic staff members and campers died when heavy rain sent the Guadalupe River flooding into the historic Hill Country camp on July 4, 2025.
The lawsuit exposes what families describe as a regulatory failure in disaster-prone areas: state health officials licensed a youth camp with an emergency plan that required children to shelter in place, contradicting the evacuation requirements those officials are responsible for enforcing.
Staff evacuated only five of the 11 cabins in an area called “the flats,” built near the river, even though there was sufficient time to get everyone out, the lawsuit states. Most of the girls who died were in two cabins in that area.
“Young campers and counselors were killed because the camp had no plan,” the lawsuit said. “The camp is responsible, but so are the state officials who helped create this failure to protect children by directing and executing a policy of non-compliance with Texas law.”
Documented Oversight
A year before the flood, DSHS inspector Maricela Zamarripa reported that Camp Mystic had a written disaster plan. She returned to the property just two days before the July 4 flood.
In her report filed two days after the flood, Zamarripa again stated the camp had the necessary emergency plan. The families allege this assessment missed what they describe as the plan’s fatal flaw: the instruction to shelter in place rather than evacuate.
State Testimony and Response
Deputy Commissioner Timothy Stevenson of the DSHS Consumer Protection Division testified to state lawmakers that the agency ensured emergency plans existed but did not verify they included evacuation procedures, according to the lawsuit. This approach violated both state law and the agency’s obligation to protect children, the families argue.
Camp owner and Executive Director Dick Eastland died while attempting to evacuate one of the cabins as floodwaters rose.
New Regulations
Two new state laws passed last year tightened youth camp evacuation requirements. The laws require camps to specify evacuation destinations, post evacuation routes in cabins, and ensure those routes are illuminated at night.
The Texas Department of State Health Services also planned to raise its camp licensing fees.
Camp Mystic’s current license is valid until March 6, 2026.
Official Statement
A DSHS spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation.
“The DSHS officials responsible for licensing youth camps deliberately looked the other way,” the families’ attorney, Paul Yetter, said in a statement. “While Camp Mystic bears responsibility and is also being sued, state officials knew the camp’s emergency plan lacked a required evacuation component and still licensed the camp as safe.”