Investigator: Camp Mystic Counselors Lacked Flood Training

AUSTIN, Texas -- An investigator told Texas lawmakers Monday that young, inexperienced counselors at Camp Mystic received no emergency training for floods and feared acting without orders, contributing to delayed evacuations in a July 4, 2025, deluge that killed 25 campers, two teenage counselors and camp owner Richard Eastland along the Guadalupe River.

Casey Garrett, a Houston attorney who led the review and previously assisted with the state's Uvalde school shooting report, presented findings from interviews with about 150 people, including survivors, staff and victims' families, to a special legislative committee. The hearing, the panel's first on the disaster at the all-girls Christian camp, highlighted a culture of strict obedience, poor communication and complacency toward flood warnings. Most victims were under age 10, many first-time campers paired with the camp's youngest counselors.

Garrett detailed the absence of drills or detailed evacuation plans. A one-paragraph directive instructed low-lying cabins to remain in place unless directed otherwise by camp office staff. State inspectors had approved the plan two days earlier, despite assertions that all cabins sat in...