A Texas investigative report concluded that leadership delays and inadequate emergency preparations caused the preventable deaths on July 4, 2025, of 27 people at Camp Mystic (an all-girls Christian summer camp near Hunt, Kerr County): primarily young campers (many under age 10) and two counselors, plus camp director Richard “Dick” Eastland. This was part of a broader flooding that killed over 100 people regionally.
Lead investigator Casey Garrett presented findings to lawmakers during a joint legislative hearing at the Texas Capitol on Monday. The report highlighted the absence of an evacuation plan and insufficient training for counselors.
Garrett noted a camp culture in which counselors were instructed not to challenge decisions made by camp director Dick Eastland.
No radios, walkie-talkies, or phones were available to staff.
“That’s just unthinkable that these girls would have no training. And again, just the real lack of equipment, no radios, no walkie-talkies, no phones, which we can agree is, you know, that they needed radios,” Garrett said, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Counselors lacked tool kits, ladders, and life jackets. One counselor recalled comments from orientation on flood protocol.
“I remember at our orientation, they talked about the flood protocol and what you do for it, and how there’s a page in our binder that has instructions for if anything were ever to happen like this. And whenever they were going over it, it’s not funny, but they were like, oh, yeah, that’s not going to happen. And I remember them being like, ‘That’s never going to happen,'” the counselor said.
The plan directed staff to remain in cabins during floods and await PA system announcements. Garrett added that the camp tradition included playing Taps on the PA system at 10 p.m.
A timeline showed that a state flood watch was issued on the afternoon of July 3 while camp activities proceeded as usual. Counselors who had the night off returned to the camp and reported unsafe conditions and water on the roadways at 12:45 a.m. on July 4. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m.
Phone records indicated Eastland checked weather apps repeatedly. He expressed concern over the Guadalupe River’s rise at 1:45 a.m. but did not order an evacuation.
A creek turned impassable at 2:14 a.m. Eastland drove counselors back to cabins at 2:37 a.m.
“Dick and Edward assess the water in the cabin. They tell them to put down towels and to stay put,” Garrett said.
Eastland radioed at 2:55 a.m. to evacuate the Bubble Inn cabin, an hour and a half after the weather service warning. He and the campers at Bubble Inn died during the effort, and his car was found stuck against a tree with girls inside.
“We do know that Dick Eastland loved every little girl that came to Camp Mystic. He was a loving man. And I can’t believe that he was sitting in the driver’s seat of that car with little girls, I mean, unattended to,” Garrett said.
Survivors described water forcing occupants toward cabin ceilings before sweeping some into currents. Others escaped via open rafters or clung to trees and debris. Flood waters carried one girl six and a half miles down the river, but she survived.
Garrett cited major search-and-rescue shortcomings. The hearing continues on Tuesday with family testimony.
