Oversight & ethics enforcementChild protectionPublic safety & negligence

Texas investigators found Camp Mystic lacked state-required written emergency plans before the July 2025 flood in which 25 campers and two counselors from the camp died

Confidence: Corroborated · 2 sourcesKerr County · Oct 13, 2026

Subject of this story

Camp Mystic

Also named

Oversight

Texas Department of State Health Services

Texas Legislature general investigating committees

What happened

State-appointed investigators told Texas lawmakers in a 115-page report released June 18, 2026 that Camp Mystic did not have written emergency plans meeting state requirements or adequate evacuation measures. A joint legislative committee said laws passed in 2025 addressed all but one of the deficiencies, with the remaining issue to be taken up when the Legislature reconvenes in 2027. Camp Mystic withdrew its license renewal application for summer 2026 on April 30, 2026, days after the Department of State Health Services notified it that the license might not be renewed without major emergency-plan revisions; the camp said it was withdrawing so that no administrative process would proceed while families grieve.

Sources (2)

The Texas TribuneCamp Mystic did not have state-required written emergency plans or adequate evacuation measures that could have prevented the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors in last year’s July 4 flood, state-appointed investigators told the state lawmakers in their final report released on Thursday.

Texas StandardThe Texas Department of Health Services previously notified Camp Mystic its license to operate may not be renewed unless it made major revisions to its emergency plan.

Response

Camp Mystic

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What happened next (0)

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