Texas Girls’ Camp Where 27 Died in Flood Plans To Reopen Despite Opposition From Victims’ Families

The Texas summer camp for girls where 27 campers and counselors died in flash fooding in July plans to reopen next year, despite opposition from some victims' families and lingering questions over whether the tragedy could have been averted.

Camp Mystic, located in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, confirmed the reopening plans in a statement to Realtor.com®, after notifying families that a portion of the camp that was not impacted by the deadly flooding would reopen.

"Our decision to partially reopen areas of the camp is informed by our faith and our commitment to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually," the statement said.

Camp Mystic officials said that they planned to welcome campers back to the Cypress Lake section of the camp, which is less than a half-mile away from the cabins where raging floodwaters from the Guadalupe River swept dozens of sleeping campers away on July 4.

The camp also said it would follow all laws and regulations as it reopened, including a new Texas law enacted this month known as the Heaven's 27 Safety Act, which requires stricter practices for summer camps and places restrictions on flood plain construction.

But the announcement was slammed in an open letter from the parents of 8-year-old Cile Steward, who was lost in the tragedy and whose remains have not yet been recovered.

"To promote reopening less than three months after the tragedy—while one camper remains missing—is unthinkable," wrote parents CiCi and Will Steward, saying they spoke on behalf of the other families affected by the tragedy. "Our families remain trapped in the deepest throes of grief, yet your communications treat our never-ending nightmare as little more than a brief pause before resuming business as usual."

Tragedy raised questions about camp location, lack of alert systems

Established 99 years ago, Camp Mystic was built on the banks of the Guadalupe River, which early on July 4 surged some 26 feet in 45 minutes after torrential rain in the area, well known to be prone to flash flooding.

Realtor.com was the first to report that much of the camp, including some of the cabins where children slept, was located in an area that FEMA designated as being at risk of flooding in 2011, including some cabins in the high-risk floodway,  the main channel for floodwaters in a 100-year event.

It later emerged that federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map. In 2013, FEMA amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area, according to the Associated Press.

A Camp Mystic spokesperson told Realtor.com in a statement that the camp obtained a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) to the FEMA 100-year flood plain map after demonstrating that the floors of the cabins were above the expected water elevation in a 100-year flood.

"FEMA approves a LOMA, based on the findings of a licensed surveyor, when a property is incorrectly identified as being in a 100-year floodplain. This was the case with Camp Mystic, which FEMA validated," the statement said.

"All finished floor elevations of the cabins in the Flats area of Camp Mystic Guadalupe River are above the 100-year base flood elevation," the statement added. "The massive flash flooding on July 4, 2025, was an unprecedented event that likely exceeded a 1,000-year floodplain event."

The Cypress Lake section of the camp that is set to reopen next year suffered some damage in the flood, but it was not the location where campers were swept to their deaths.

The Cypress Lake sister site to the original camp on the Guadalupe River opened in 2020 as part of a major expansion.

FEMA records show that the agency also granted Camp Mystic's appeals to remove about 15 buildings at the Cypress Lake site from its special flood hazard designation in 2019 and 2020.

The new Heaven's 27 safety law recently passed in a special session of the Texas Legislature prohibits youth camps from building cabins in FEMA flood plains and requires camps to move existing cabins out of dangerous flood plains.

The new law also requires annual staff training and emergency planning, creates an online registry of camps, and mandates backup power and communication systems for emergency evacuations

Meanwhile, the tragedy also raised questions about whether more could have been done to raise the alarm and prompt evacuations.

Camp Mystic was at a particular disadvantage due to its location near the headwaters of the Guadalupe, reducing the warning period for evacuation.

Although the area is prone to flooding, Kerr County where Camp Mystic is located does not have a comprehensive outdoor flood warning siren system, with local officials blaming costs.

However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both confirmed that the state will ensure that warning sirens are installed along the Guadalupe River before next summer.