Camp Mystic’s Disaster Plan OK’d Just Before Deadly Texas Flood
Picture this: an all-girls summer camp in central Texas only gets its disaster plan stamped “approved” 48 hours before a historic flash flood turns its campgrounds into a tragedy zone. Camp Mystic, a 99-year-old sleep-away retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe River, satisfied state requirements for “procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster” just days before torrential rains swept through Kerr County on Friday, July 4. According to Department of State Health Services records obtained by AP, inspectors signed off on an evacuation blueprint that included staff assignments and camper briefings—yet AP’s review of five years’ worth of archived documents found no tangible evacuation plan on site until this latest version.
Sources confirm that while disaster plans are legally supposed to be posted in every camp building, they don’t get filed with the state; Lara Anton, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, pointed AP back to Camp Mystic for the actual paperwork. Tragically, the river surged to more than double its normal height in under an hour, catching everyone off guard. Camp officials opted not to evacuate, and those final approvals came too late to save 27 campers and counselors—five more remain unaccounted for. Social media footage from the days leading up to the deluge shows teens laughing on kayaks and bonding around campfires, oblivious to the danger bearing down on them.
The flood’s overall toll has now surpassed 100 confirmed fatalities, with 160 people still missing in one of Texas’s deadliest flash floods on record. The National Weather Service has defended its alert system, arguing multiple warnings were issued in a timely fashion, and the White House announced plans earlier this week to modernize federal flood alerts. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged Texans to “hold off on the blame game” as search and recovery efforts press on amid devastated cabins and debris-choked riverbanks.
High-key, it’s a heartbreaking case study in last-minute compliance that still couldn’t keep pace with extreme weather. Camp Mystic’s newly minted safety manual might check state boxes, but it couldn’t out-run a deluge that proved just how fast a river can turn deadly. Anyway, that’s the scoop. You do you.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and Associated Press, Department of State Health Services, National Weather Service, TMZ
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
