Juenke’s testimony closed a three-day hearing in a legal dispute over Camp Mystic’s plan to reopen this summer — a plan opposed by families of the 27 people killed in the July 4, 2025, flood, including 25 campers, two teenage counselors, and camp co-owner Dick Eastland.
AUSTIN, Texas — The security guard on duty at Camp Mystic the night of last summer’s deadly flood testified Wednesday that an early evacuation order could have saved the lives of campers killed when floodwaters surged through the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours of July 4. Glenn Juenke, who directed a group of girls to run to higher ground on his own initiative, also told the hearing he did not recall camp operators ever training campers, counselors, or staff on where to go in an emergency.
The July 4, 2025, flood killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors at the all-girls Christian camp in the Texas Hill Country. Camp co-owner Dick Eastland also died. Juenke’s testimony closed a three-day hearing in a legal dispute between camp operators — who want to reopen this summer — and families of some of those killed who have opposed that plan.
What Juenke did that night
Juenke testified that he first joined camp directors Dick and Edward Eastland in driving some girls away from their cabins as floodwaters rose. When the water grew too high to drive, he abandoned his truck and proceeded on foot.
He said it was his own decision — not an order from camp directors or authorities — to tell a group of campers to scramble up a hillside as the flood rose around them. He then returned to another cabin, where he was soon trapped in waist-deep water. Storage trunks were tossed through the current before being swept out. He ordered the girls in that cabin onto air mattresses.
“It was a long night. We were getting bitten by fire ants. There were spiders … The girls did everything I told them to do,” Juenke said. None of the girls in that cabin died.
Juenke and the campers emerged around dawn. He then met up with Catie Eastland, one of the camp directors, near a two-story recreation building where roughly a hundred girls had taken refuge. Juenke testified that he told her: “y’all could have had a million different evacuation plans, nothing would have worked.”
Disputed preparation and warning
Family attorneys have focused on the absence of a detailed evacuation plan and the failure to issue a camp-wide order to leave the cabins. A short emergency notice posted in the cabins — one that had passed state inspection just two days before the flood — instructed campers to stay put until given instructions by staff.
Juenke, called as a witness for the camp operators, said he did not recall operators ever training campers, counselors, or staff on where to go if an emergency evacuation was required.
He defended the actions of staff that night. “We did everything we could do in the time that we had,” he said. Yet he also acknowledged under questioning that a general evacuation order issued early in the storm could have saved lives.
“You can blame it on Mother Nature or God Almighty, but if anyone had used the speakers or walkie talkie and told them to leave before 3 (am), they would’ve survived,” said Brad Beckworth, an attorney for the family of Cile Steward, 8, the only camper whose body has not been recovered.
Camp’s status and litigation
The hearing has produced the most extensive account yet from camp operators of what unfolded during the storm, including details of missed chances to prepare and delayed decisions to evacuate, the Associated Press reported.
The camp’s license remains under review by Texas state health regulators. A judge last month ordered the camp to preserve damaged areas as evidence for pending lawsuits; that ruling is under appeal.