FILE - Campers belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic’s cabins near the Guadalupe River, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after a flash flood swept through the area. (AP Photo/Eli Hartman, File)
FILE - Campers belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic’s cabins near the Guadalupe River, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after a flash flood swept through the area. (AP Photo/Eli Hartman, File)
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) 鈥 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 when fast-rising floodwaters of the Guadalupe River roared through the girls鈥 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 鈥渞equirements of the camp safety legislation you bravely championed.鈥 About an hour later, the camp sent an email to the rest of the families announcing the decision.
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The camp also announced that it will build a memorial to the girls who died in the flooding.
鈥淚n the memorial鈥檚 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,鈥 the email said.
Camp Mystic parents successfully pushed for Texas to aimed at preventing similar tragedies. The measures aim to improve the safety of children鈥檚 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鈥檚 rainy day fund for disaster relief, along with money for warning sirens and improved weather forecasting.
鈥淚t 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,鈥 he . 鈥淧lease pass this bill, protect our kids and do not let their deaths be in vain.鈥
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 鈥渨orking with engineers and other experts to determine how we will implement the changes required鈥 under the newly passed bills.
