Texas tells Camp Mystic, where 27 died in floods, to revise safety plans

Camp Mystic, where 27 people died during a flash flood last summer, submitted an inadequate emergency plan proposal, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) informed directors Thursday.

The Texas summer camp is facing several legal challenges and investigations but said it intended to reopen in May.

In a letter first reported by Quorum Report on Friday, the state department notified the camp that it was missing or provided inadequate responses for several aspects of its emergency plan. The Hill’s parent network, Nexstar, obtained and verified the contents of this notice. 

The state department requested a revised emergency plan from Camp Mystic within 45 days of when the directors received the notification.

This specific notice refers to an emergency plan submitted for the camp’s Cypress Lake location, which is 2 miles uphill from its Guadalupe location, where 25 campers and two counselors died during a historic flood on July 4. 

The camp is located in the floodplain in Hunt, Texas — an unincorporated area about an 80-minute drive northwest of San Antonio. 

It was missing floodplain location information and staff emergency plans, according to the state’s letter. 

Additionally, the DSHS said the camp provided “insufficient” or “incomplete” plans for a variety of emergency scenarios, including a fire, serious injury or death, an aquatic emergency and a natural disaster. 

The letter included recommendations for revising the camp’s emergency plans to include provisions like a floodplain notification for parents sending their children to the camp and confirmation that the campus has an adequate emergency warning system in place. 

A spokesperson with the DSHS told Nexstar that most youth camps receive similar deficiency notices because of changes to emergency plan requirements. An approved emergency plan is required under the DSHS’s licensing review process for summer camps. 

In a statement provided to The Texas Tribune, the summer camp said it is “carefully reviewing” DSHS’s notice and working to address the identified issues with its emergency plan. 

“Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our campers,” the camp told the outlet. 

Parents of the girls who died during the 2025 flood at Camp Mystic have pushed Texas legislators to pass more safety laws for summer camps and filed lawsuits against the camp’s directors and the DSHS. 

The decision to reopen the camp for the summer of 2026 sparked intense pushback from these families, and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has urged the state not to renew Camp Mystic’s license until safety investigations are complete.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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