Camp Mystic plans to reopen in Texas next summer, a year after floods killed 27

Audio By Carbonatix

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Camp Mystic plans to reopen next summer near the site where 27 girls and counselors died in a July flood.

The campers and counselors were swept to their deaths when fast-rising floodwaters of the Guadalupe River roared through the girls’ summer camp in a low-lying area known as flash flood alley. All told, the destructive flooding in Texas on the Fourth of July killed at least 136 people and washed away homes and vehicles.

In an email sent Monday to the families of the victims, the camp said when it reopens, its planning and procedures will follow the “requirements of the camp safety legislation you bravely championed.” About an hour later, the camp sent an email to the rest of the families announcing the decision.

The camp also announced that it will build a memorial to the girls who died in the flooding.

“In the memorial’s design, we will strive to capture the beauty, kindness and grace they all shared, while focusing on the joy they carried and will always inspire in us all,” the email said.

Camp Mystic parents successfully pushed for Texas to pass bills aimed at preventing similar tragedies. The measures aim to improve the safety of children’s camps by prohibiting cabins in dangerous parts of flood zones and requiring camp operators to develop detailed emergency plans, to train workers and to install and maintain emergency warning systems. One allocates $240 million from the state’s rainy day fund for disaster relief, along with money for warning sirens and improved weather forecasting.

“It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,” he said. “Please pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain.”

The announcement means that Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020, will reopen next summer. But the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe was too damaged to open next summer, according to the camp.

The email said leaders are “working with engineers and other experts to determine how we will implement the changes required” under the newly passed bills.