US EditionCamp Mystic parents sue state, accusing Texas officials of not enforcing evacuation plan requirement
Families accuse Texas health officials of licensing Camp Mystic without evacuation plans, contributing to 27 deaths in July 2025 flood, while the camp plans to reopen this summer.
- On Monday, the families of nine Hill Country flooding victims filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages, alleging Texas Department of State Health Services licensed Camp Mystic without an evacuation plan.
- Camp Mystic's emergency instructions told campers to stay in cabins during floods, while Texas law requires licensed youth camps to have evacuation plans, but DSHS checked plans without enforcing evacuation.
- In the early morning July 4 flood, the Guadalupe River surged into the camp, killing 27 girls and counselors; staff evacuated five of 11 cabins in the flats, and Dick Eastland, Camp Owner and Executive Director, died trying to evacuate one cabin.
- They are suing six DSHS officials including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, DSHS declined to comment on pending litigation, and the camp's license remains valid until March 6.
- Two new state laws passed last year require camps to specify evacuation destinations, post routes in cabins, and ensure lighting, while families' attorney Paul Yetter said DSHS officials 'deliberately looked the other way' and the agency planned to raise camp licensing fees.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Texas Lt. Governor Says Camp Mystic Shouldn’t Receive License to Reopen
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas sent a blistering letter on Monday asking the Texas Department of State Health Services not to issue a new camp license to Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and the camp’s executive director died in flooding last July. “I would not feel comfortable sending my grandchildren to a camp where 27 young girls lost their lives less than a year ago,” Mr. Patrick wrote in the letter, which he also posted on social media. “It would…
Camp Mystic flooding victims sue Texas for allegedly failing to enforce evacuation plan requirement
Families of nine victims of last summer's deadly flooding in Texas are suing the state, alleging it failed to enforce a requirement that a girls' camp where 27 campers and counselors died have an evacuation plan
Texas Lt. Gov. urges DSHS halt renewal of Camp Mystic's license
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick on Monday issued a letter to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) commissioner asking not to renew Camp Mystic’s license pending investigation and that necessary changes are made to ensure lives are not lost at the campsite again.
Dan Patrick seeks to block Camp Mystic's summer reopening pending inquiry into July 4 flood deaths
The lieutenant governor's request to delay renewing the camp's license came hours after parents who lost children in the July 4 flood sued the state for its alleged failure to enforce an evacuation plan requirement.
Associated Press News
Camp Mystic parents sue state, accusing Texas officials of not enforcing evacuation plan requirement
Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new federal lawsuit.
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