Camp Mystic won’t reopen this summer after owners withdrew their application, the camp said this week, citing ongoing investigations and continued mourning among families of the girls killed in last year’s floods. The withdrawal follows months of pushback from parents and scrutiny by state regulators and lawmakers focused on what Camp Mystic’s emergency planning did—or did not—prepare staff to do as water rose quickly along the Guadalupe River.
The 2025 disaster began when a storm unleashed heavy, isolated rainfall in the Hill Country early July 4, sending floodwaters down the Guadalupe River, according to a timeline of key events. The fast-rising waters overtook two cabins closest to the river and swept the youngest girls to their deaths, while also killing Camp owner Richard Eastland.
Before the July 4 flooding, state inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic’s emergency plan, two days earlier, according to Texas Department of State Health Services records cited in the timeline. Inspectors’ report described the camp’s compliance with state regulations requiring procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster, including instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counselor.
After the flood, the pace of state action accelerated. On Sept. 5, Gov. Greg Abbott signed several bills intended to prevent similar tragedies, according to the timeline, including requirements for detailed emergency plans, training for workers, and emergency warning systems. The legislation also set aside $240 million for disaster relief and for warning sirens and improved weather forecasting, Abbott’s office said.
In late September, the camp’s owners announced they planned to partially reopen, telling parents in a Sept. 23 letter, the timeline says. Some families reacted with outrage, arguing they had not been consulted. In a letter cited in the timeline, Cici Steward, whose 8-year-old daughter Cile remains missing, wrote that campers would “swim in the same river that may potentially still hold my daughter’s body,” and parents described the proposed return as “unthinkable.”
As families mounted legal challenges, the owners’ reopening plans also faced increasing regulatory and legislative scrutiny. The families of the girls who died filed lawsuits in state court in Austin on Nov. 10 alleging the camp’s operators failed to take necessary steps to protect campers as life-threatening floodwaters approached. In addition, Texas health regulators told the camp’s owners they were investigating hundreds of complaints as the state considered whether to allow reopening, the timeline says.
That scrutiny intensified in April when Texas regulators said they found nearly two dozen deficiencies in the emergency operations plan submitted by the owners. An 11-page report sent April 24 by the Department of State Health Services described problems with plans for flood warning evacuations, the emergency warning and public address system, monitoring of safety alerts, and safety training.
A legislative hearing in mid-April also added to the questions about Camp Mystic’s readiness. During a three-day hearing, Camp director Edward Eastland acknowledged lives could have been saved if staff had acted sooner, while testifying they could not have anticipated the storm’s severity, according to the timeline. A security guard testified he received no orders from camp officials on what to do as floodwaters rose, but was able to help a group of campers escape.
The timeline also says an investigator told lawmakers that young and inexperienced counselors were not trained to help campers during floods or other emergencies, and feared making decisions on their own. The investigator, Casey Garrett, described what he said was an “obedience” culture paired with poorly trained teenage counselors and the youngest campers, and said it fostered complacency about flood warnings.
In the latest step in the dispute over whether the camp could resume operations, Camp Mystic officials on April 30 withdrew their application for a license to operate this summer. The camp said in a statement that no administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue, and while “so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” and a Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson confirmed the withdrawal.
Related stories to this timeline include earlier MSI reporting on Camp Mystic’s director’s apology and the camp’s subsequent determination that it would not reopen after all.