Camp Mystic Faces Licensing Challenges Over Safety Deficiencies
The Christian summer camp where 27 girls and counselors died in July 2025 may not be permitted to reopen this summer after state officials determined it has failed to meet health and safety standards.
Camp Mystic must implement several changes, including improvements to its emergency and parent-notification procedures, to obtain its operating license, according to a letter from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The letter highlights an inadequate emergency warning system, the absence of a floodplain map indicating camper cabin locations, and a flawed fire evacuation plan.
The camp has 45 days to address these issues to secure its license. A Camp Mystic spokesperson stated the camp still plans to open for campers on May 30 as scheduled.
“Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our campers, and we hope to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually,” the camp said in a statement on Friday.
Separate Site Planned for Reopening
Camp Mystic intends to open a different site from the one affected by the deadly flooding on July 4, 2025.
On that day, 25 girls, two counselors, and the camp’s owner died at the Kerr County camp after heavy rainfall caused catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River adjacent to the site. The floods resulted in over 130 deaths in the region.
Some families of the victims have criticized the decision to reopen the camp and questioned whether the camp and state authorities took sufficient measures to prevent the tragedy. In February, families of nine flood victims filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging it failed to require an evacuation plan from the camp.
Delayed Death Reporting and Testimonies
Earlier in April, Camp Mystic’s medical officer revealed she had not officially reported the deaths to the state health agency.
Under administrative code, camps must report deaths to state health regulators within 24 hours. However, during testimony related to a lawsuit filed by the family of one deceased girl, Cecilia “Cile” Steward, Mary Liz Eastland admitted she did not comply with this requirement.
Eastland’s testimony followed that of her husband, Edward Eastland, a camp director whose father, owner Richard Eastland, also perished in the flood.
Edward Eastland testified that he had not seen official weather warnings before the storm, did not hold a staff meeting about potential flooding, and acknowledged the camp lacked a detailed written flood evacuation plan.
He stated that earlier action might have saved lives but maintained that camp officials could not have anticipated the storm’s magnitude.
