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News & Current Events Apr 25, 2026 at 2:24 AM

Texas finds Camp Mystic's flood emergency plan deficient for reopening

Posted by catsgr8rthanspoonies

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Complete_Entry Apr 25, 2026 +1318
I don't understand why they would even try. After that event, the area should be condemned.
1318
schu4KSU Apr 25, 2026 +724
Same reason they built on flood plain land in the first place. To make money.
724
Impressive-Weird-908 Apr 25, 2026 +198
We’re not just doing this for money, we are doing it for a shit load of money!
198
Philip_Marlowe Apr 25, 2026 +48
Ahhh. You're right. And when you're right, you're right. And you? You're always right!
48
Slap-Happy27 Apr 25, 2026 +15
Okay, so we reopen the camp, but how? The second we do, we're gonna show up on the state's radar.
15
Infamous-Sky-1874 Apr 25, 2026 +21
"Not if we bribe it."
21
APeacefulWarrior Apr 25, 2026 +20
"Sir! We've lost the bleeps, we've lost the sweeps, and we've lost the creeps!"
20
thejesterofdarkness Apr 25, 2026 +9
The what? The what? And the what?!?!
9
ConspiceyStories Apr 25, 2026 +147
My grandmother had a peice of land since the 80s she sold because the river adjecent flooded. Most of the bank washed away and she lost 1/5 acres. Never really flooded that much before. Now she sold it to someone who wants to turn it into a commercial campground. People just don't care.
147
shouldbepracticing85 Apr 25, 2026 +31
If the proper safety measures are in place, these flood prone river bottoms can be excellent locations for RV camping. I specify RV camping - because you pull a couple hoses, the power cord, and roll up the jacks and you could have RVs on the move in minutes to evacuate the area. And it’s easier to convince them to move or be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. *But* there has to be a sufficient alert system or a process to evacuate and close them off with short notice before a storm.
31
RiverBard Apr 25, 2026 +62
This is not how most RV people camp; they roll up and dump out and hammer in everything they could fit in the rig. 
62
stryker_cast Apr 25, 2026 +41
I was going to say, most RV people camp like they live there. We had a flood in my state, with massive warning and a lot of RV campers were like "meh", and then their shit got flooded.
41
shouldbepracticing85 Apr 25, 2026 +1
Sometimes you just can’t fix stupid. Texas has had the “turn around, don’t drown” PSA for as long as I can remember (30+ years), but every year there are still dozens that do it. White water rescue teams can’t save them all, there are always a few deaths.
1
Charlie_Mouse Apr 25, 2026 +1
It’s amazing how dramatically “you can’t tell me what to do!” can turn into “why aren’t emergency services endangering themselves to rescue me immediately?”
1
shouldbepracticing85 Apr 25, 2026 +1
True, but if they had to all that stuff could be left behind.
1
diurnal_emissions Apr 25, 2026 +1
On a long enough time scale, the bodies may act as a sort of levee...
1
MrMcFunStuff Apr 25, 2026 -14
I guess the same can be said about your grandmother, now she played a part in making an unsafe campground because she wanted more money.
-14
iaspeegizzydeefrent Apr 25, 2026 +3
You have terrible logic.
3
IPissExcellentThrows Apr 25, 2026 -2
I mean, it's at least somewhat true. She definitely doesn't get the majority of the blame, but she knowingly sold to someone who plans to use the land for profit at the risk of endangering children. She could've sold to someone else, but they likely weren't offering as much, so she took the highest offer. If you think it's not even slightly on her, that's fine, but it's not remotely terrible logic. She chose money over selling it to someone that doesn't have terrible intentions. If I'm selling a hunting rifle and one person offers me 200 bucks and says he wants to hunt deer in the woods, and another offers me 400 and says they want to shoot squirrels in the city, I'm a bit of a d*** if I sell to the latter.
-2
iaspeegizzydeefrent Apr 25, 2026 +1
Except you have zero idea of the details of the sale and are making a ton of assumptions.
1
Efficient_Heart5378 Apr 25, 2026 +28
I don't know who in their right mind would send their kids there again. Even with a new plan. So hopefully parents are wise about it and they close due to lack of interest. There should be a boycott of it from locals.
28
JustComplicatedEnuf Apr 25, 2026 +28
I think they had 800 applicants who put deposits down for this season. I just cannot imagine. One little girls body still has not been found.
28
theskyisblueatnight Apr 25, 2026 +6
i went down this rabbit hole last year out of interest. Most people think it was an act of god. So they see it as god choice not the actions of humans. Plus the camp has a long history of being very connected to select elites in society.
6
MageLocusta Apr 25, 2026 +3
Crazy. They see it as an act of god, but have no problem watching others put their kids into danger again. Like fuckin' pardon me, but the Bible mentions that the Jews painted their doorways with blood to protect their own children from ''acts of god'. They didn't f****** go, "Eh, I'm sure God's going to ONLY kill the non-believing Egyptians. Let's just do nothing."
3
muffinshoes1 Apr 25, 2026 +4
Nah, doesn’t just have to be local to be loud. This is bullshit and everyone who died there deserves from respect than the way the camp is operating.
4
Luckydog12 Apr 25, 2026 +7
Money is more important to them than children.
7
Levarien Apr 25, 2026 +5
To make money from the most influential people in the state. The social capital involved in being the summer indoctrination camp for conservative girls of texas is massive.
5
Somnif Apr 25, 2026 +1
Weirdly enough, in my town, we actually build parks and playgrounds in our flood control channels/basins. (You're never more than a hundred or so yards from a ramp out of the basin, and they're quite wide, flat regions so even 'flash' floods are fairly slow. But it's still a little eerie seeing the jungle gyms submerged during monsoon season)
1
yourlittlebirdie Apr 25, 2026 +38
Because they make a shitton of money every summer, that’s why.
38
Flash_ina_pan Apr 25, 2026 +179
I can guess, given that it's a Christian summer camp, they will claim it's God's will that they reopen. Which will also be the claim when they sue the state for not allowing them to reopen.
179
boomchacle Apr 25, 2026 +70
According to them, the flood was god's will.
70
KAugsburger Apr 25, 2026 +30
Maybe they should listen to god's will and build somewhere else.
30
Max_Trollbot_ Apr 25, 2026 +14
*Our negligence is God's will* - Texas
14
UBC145 Apr 25, 2026 +12
Yep. God’s will is why their kids’ are never coming home, some of whom were never even found. But they’ll just wave that away as “they were chosen to be angels” or some other crazy bullshit.
12
deltabaker Apr 25, 2026 -11
I am confused why are you talking about a highway in BC , and a flood that happened in November of 2021. When the everybody else is talking the flood in Texas occurring in July of 2025.
-11
VagabondReligion Apr 25, 2026 +7
Worst invention ever: The God of Abraham
7
DownhillUphill Apr 25, 2026 +23
Money. They don’t care about the dead girls
23
jeffismybaby Apr 25, 2026 +1
Yep once theyre older than about 10 they dont care anymore
1
DragonHalfFreelance Apr 25, 2026 +27
Agreed, those poor kids….this shouldn’t have never happened. I’m so angry and heartbroken still. Also what about the camp’s owner how is he not in prison or something?
27
GoobScoob Apr 25, 2026 +32
Richard Eastland (owner and director) died trying to save those girls.
32
amateur_mistake Apr 25, 2026 +28
His widow and co-owner is the one trying to reopen it.
28
wellobviouslythatsso Apr 25, 2026 +11
I’m really sorry, but it’s tough to give credit when it was his negligence that led to the deaths in the first place. The guys not a hero. He’s a fool that got kids killed and then died trying to (unsuccessfully) fix his f*** up
11
secretaire Apr 25, 2026 +18
One could also say he/they all died because they were sleeping in a flood zone and didn’t evacuate when there were many flood watches and warnings for hours.
18
DragonHalfFreelance Apr 25, 2026 +3
Thank you for educating me on the exact events as I haven’t been following it super closely and I know media all over says different things to paint everyone in different lights so getting the facts is important!
3
grey_hat_uk Apr 25, 2026 +5
>All the kings said I was daft to build a castle in a swamp, but I built it all the same just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. Same mind set with sacrificing children.
5
InternetName4 Apr 25, 2026 +257
Who would want to send their kids there anyway after what happened?
257
banshee_matsuri Apr 25, 2026 +322
the same kind that shun vaccines but run to emergency rooms for help with avoidable illnesses at the last minute.
322
InternetName4 Apr 25, 2026 +125
Yeah I decided to look into it and there were interviews with some of the (800!) families that want to go back. And they really seem like the dumbest most careless people possible. Definitely a "god would never let anything bad happen to my baby" group. I really can't understand these people, even if you have faith in god wouldn't you want to put as little of a burden on him as possible to protect you by doing everything you can to protect yourself and your family first? Why is it all up to him?
125
dawidowmaka Apr 25, 2026 +82
> Why is it all up to him? Because it absolves them of responsibility
82
snuuginz Apr 25, 2026 +10
Yep, let go and let God and let's all ignore that we're in a death cult.
10
iaspeegizzydeefrent Apr 25, 2026 +1
"Jesus, take the wheel"
1
Medical_Solid Apr 25, 2026 +1
“God would never let this happen to *my* baby! Those girls who drowned probably just didn’t pray with sincerity or condemn gays enough!” /s
1
sudosussudio Apr 25, 2026 +73
There was a long story about this in [nymag](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/camp-mystic-texas-flood-deaths.html) where they interviewed a bunch of people supporting the reopening. They’ve convinced themselves it was a freak accident bolstered by a bunch of Evangelical nonsense.
73
Historical_Project00 Apr 25, 2026 +30
It reminds me of a doc I watched where a huge thunderstorm blew in in the middle of an outdoor Christian music festival in Virginia (or was it West Virginia? I can't remember). All of the attendees lived in the region (telling by their accents). They were ALL like, "It's a sign from God! God's telling us \[insert message here\]!" No you f****** dipshits. You chose to attend an outdoor music festival in Appalachia, a region of the US known for getting severe thunderstorms. I've lived all over the country and the thunderstorms in Appalachia were by far and away the most intense. That's like hosting a festival in Texas in June and going, "We had to cancel 'cause it ended up being 105 degrees out! God must be telling us something!" I get that in order to believe in fundamentalist beliefs that cause cognitive dissonance, you have to suspend logical reasoning. But c'mon man, you're suspending basic survival instincts too? You're surprised a severe thunderstorm cancelled your festival in Severe Thunderstormland? And to these Texas parents, you're surprised a flood wiped away a camp located in Floodplainville? God, I'm so done with these people.
30
shouldbepracticing85 Apr 25, 2026 +1
All I can think of is this girl I knew in 1993, we were 8. She had this singsong rhyme “God made dirt, so dirt won’t hurt us” Even at that age my med-tech trained highly anxious mom had gotten basic germ theory in my head, and I knew how dumb that was.
1
palmburntblue Apr 25, 2026 +18
They had a waiting list this summer… Never underestimate the rich and their attachment to traditions. 
18
Caymonki Apr 25, 2026 +17
God would never flood the same place twice! /s but also that’s probably the justification parents will muster so they don’t have to parent their children all summer.
17
eenimeeniminimo Apr 25, 2026 +10
Imagine how frightening it would be for an 8 year old to even go to this camp, knowing how many little girls died a horrible death the prior year.
10
ArterialRed Apr 25, 2026 +1
It's called "plausible deniability".
1
WaffleFangStorm Apr 25, 2026 +396
If your “emergency plan” is basically “hope it doesn’t rain,” you probably shouldn’t be hosting kids. At minimum, require independent third-party inspections before any flood-prone camp can reopen.
396
whatproblems Apr 25, 2026 +144
plan is no way this flood happens a SECOND time… floods don’t strike the same place twice right?….
144
rlarge1 Apr 25, 2026 +48
This was the second time. third better chances
48
Infamous-Sky-1874 Apr 25, 2026 +33
"Flood me once, shame on you. Flood me twice... never going to be flooded again."
33
accushot865 Apr 25, 2026 +45
That would mean regulations, and Texas is very proud about trying to deregulate everything in the state
45
ensalys Apr 25, 2026 +3
But Texas is ruled by the party that supposedly is all about protecting children!
3
josh_the_rockstar Apr 25, 2026 +1
Their emergency plan is “Jesus”.
1
TSJormungandr Apr 25, 2026 +159
The forecast was 3-5 inches of rain in that area. They had a whole afternoon and night to figure it out and they blew it! Kids died because they couldn’t bother checking the damn weather! They blamed the national weather service right off the bat. The NWS was spot on! They were just too lazy and stupid to check and respond appropriately. This was murder by negligence. Disgusting!
159
Infamous-Sky-1874 Apr 25, 2026 +99
Also, and this is one aspect that I found very suspicious given that this was a "religious" camp, camp counselors were not allowed to keep their cell phones. They had to hand them in along with the campers. If just one counselor had access to their cell phone and saw the alerts, they might have been able to get campers down in the flood plain up to higher ground before the flood waters started coming in.
99
Vast-Passenger-3648 Apr 25, 2026 +73
Or even walkie-talkies if they are going to be all old school about shit. And it costs next to nothing. $7000 a camper is what they charge. That family was raking in the money.
73
sudde004 Apr 25, 2026 +26
Ya, just bought a decent set of walkie talkies and had no idea the NWS was a featured station. It’s fun listening to the old school weather report
26
happy_pad Apr 25, 2026 +27
Right? I don't know how this wasn't talked about more. The campers not having phones is understandable, but for the counselors to not have phones on them and active at all times, *for emergencies*, is gross negligence. It's astonishing to me this point hasn't been taken more seriously.
27
OfcWaffle Apr 25, 2026 +6
That's crazy to be in charge of the lives of children but have no access to emergency services. You're a mandated reporter in charge of children who cannot take care of themselves. I'm an adult and I still always have access to emergency services. When I use to Backcountry ski I'd have a sat radio, just in case.
6
theskyisblueatnight Apr 25, 2026 +7
Plus the counselors are 16 year old kids taking care of 10-16 children aged between 5-14 years old. why wasn't there some form of communication etc. Its just crazy because in normal society a 16 year old can't look after a 6 year old anymore.
7
ensalys Apr 25, 2026 +2
Wait, for real? In this day and age it's just straight up negligent if you're incommunicado when you're in charge of so many children.
2
Ok-disaster2022 Apr 25, 2026 +39
You're telling me evacuating objects and animals before children isn't a valid emergency plan?!
39
Fickle-Ad2042 Apr 25, 2026 +44
"Among the flaws cited in ​the notice, the department said the camp failed to provide adequate evacuation route maps or enumerate what actions ‌staff members ⁠were responsible for taking in the event of an evacuation." "The camp, the department said, also lacks a plan identifying specific staff responsible for monitoring and maintaining the facility's weather-alert radio system." How they did not rise to the occasion and meet these requirements is SUCH a f****** joke. It's clear that after last years tragedy the requirements have been bolstered to keep these things from happening again but to be honest, these requirements sound like common sense more than tough to meet requirements. As a new dad to a little baby girl who is the most precious thing in our entire world, this just makes me so damn angry to see.
44
Infamous-Sky-1874 Apr 25, 2026 +27
They weren't ACA (American Camp Association) certified for all those reasons. Don't send your kids to a camp that the ACA says is out of compliance.
27
Scared-Hope-868 Apr 25, 2026 +25
Whole area is a flood plain. Never should have been there to begin with, and they want to reopen? Greed.
25
CeramicLicker Apr 25, 2026 +16
The little pink footlockers. It’s just so horrible. I’m surprised they even tried, at least so soon. I worked at a summer camp where a child was killed in a flash flood and the campsite he’d been at was permanently closed and the others in the canyon relocated. That doesn’t seem like a possibility here in the same way
16
HeydoIDKu Apr 25, 2026 -10
Plenty of people still go to amusement parks, drive on roads, attend schools businesses universities workplaces etc where tragedies occur. I think it’s a bit disgusting but par for the course.
-10
MageLocusta Apr 25, 2026 +1
How many amusement parks got flooded?
1
DangerousPath1420 Apr 25, 2026 +16
If TX finds the plan deficient, the plan must be truly terrible
16
Healthylife55 Apr 25, 2026 +28
maybe dont build a kids camp in a flood zone, just a thought
28
redbananass Apr 25, 2026 +25
Not just that, pretty much the most dangerous flood zone in the country.
25
PigFarmer1 Apr 25, 2026 +8
What parent would send their kid to that camp???
8
Mr_Kuchikopi Apr 25, 2026 +15
they had record breaking enrollment this year.
15
Nabs-2 Apr 25, 2026 +5
American Evangelicals.
5
ArterialRed Apr 25, 2026 +3
One of the many many many parents that want to be rid of the kids without legal culpability. Whether it be for a month long summer camp or permanently.
3
llcdrewtaylor Apr 25, 2026 +7
This is all sorts of fucked up. If I owned a camp and even one child died, I would quit running a camp for the rest of my life! These bastards are gonna go right back and do the same dumb shit again. And there is a line of parents to sign their kids up for it!
7
Scared-Hope-868 Apr 25, 2026 +6
It was deficient before the flood.
6
dancingbananas25 Apr 25, 2026 +7
Maybe we just shouldn't reopen a camp there. Even if they did create a better safety plan, so many kids still died there and it feels disrespectful 
7
bck1999 Apr 25, 2026 +6
Was the emergency plan “prayers”?
6
MorgothsCrispyToast Apr 25, 2026 +23
Just put a shit load of low power float switches at different bank heights along the river. Connect these to a lora mesh network or similar that auto sends texts and activates sirens.
23
Infamous-Sky-1874 Apr 25, 2026 +111
There was money earmarked by the Biden Administration for just such a system. The county voted to refuse the money because "there were going to be strings attached to that money," "the sirens would wake people up unnecessarily," and my personal favorite "it would only benefit out of towners."
111
FlyingDiscsandJams Apr 25, 2026 +59
Yeah, those transcripts are sickening knowing that no one really changed their minds after the fact.
59
amateur_mistake Apr 25, 2026 +27
Especially because they also specifically held onto the money so that it couldn't be used to do good somewhere else. They were *righteous* about it.
27
happy_pad Apr 25, 2026 +3
These morons didn't have allow their camp counselors to have cell phones. Gross negligence.
3
badcrass Apr 25, 2026 -9
$100k easy + someone has to maintain it. Costs money
-9
steik Apr 25, 2026 +7
Parents were paying $8k per kid. They bring in $100k with 13 kids. They were hosting 700-750 kids per summer.
7
Canadia-Eh Apr 25, 2026 +3
Dead kids don't cost money?
3
Otherwise_Emu_5019 Apr 25, 2026 +26
It’s funny how OSHA is nowhere to be found. Religious camps are not exempt.
26
keznaa Apr 25, 2026 +5
Their plan was "Come ooooon, what are the chances of a freak flood like that happen again in the next ...10 years?"
5
dominiqlane Apr 25, 2026 +5
They haven’t been sued out of existence?
5
Kurtotall Apr 25, 2026 +18
They want to reopen? What’s next? Selling cotton candy at Auschwitz?
18
drtywater Apr 25, 2026 +3
They really thought they could reopen?
3
redsoxfan_goboston Apr 25, 2026 +3
Who is their right kind would say yes, this is where I want my kid to go to camp....
3
HolyToast666 Apr 25, 2026 +2
They are fully booked for this upcoming season…..mind boggling
2
shouldbeawitch Apr 25, 2026 +4
That camp will be haunted.
4
Mak062 Apr 25, 2026 +7
Parents are idiots if they send there daughter's or sons to camp mystic after the floods. They deserve to be thrown in prison and left bankrupt
7
BoilerMaker11 Apr 25, 2026 +10
Isn’t this the county that rejected Biden’s commie money to help fund their county warning system for weather events? And then accepted the money but just gave local cops a bunch of raises?
10
Waffle99 Apr 25, 2026 +1
Worse, they took money allocated for upgrading the old failing flood alert system and bought shit for the cops there instead.
1
ilulillirillion Apr 25, 2026 +3
come on you know what they say, a flood never strikes the same place twice oh shit wait
3
Feisty-Lawfulness894 Apr 25, 2026 +3
These are Evangelicals, Republicans...*MAGA*. They somehow always get off on doing what everybody else knows is dead wrong. They insist on violating every societal norm while simultaneously acting like the rest of society is the problem.
3
Mrevilman Apr 25, 2026 +5
A little late for that, don’t you think?
5
Soft-Skirt Apr 25, 2026 +7
I seriously surprised that Texas has any standards, wasn’t the bribe big enough?
7
bimbo_baggins_ Apr 25, 2026 +2
How could anyone send their child there again?
2
Kozmic_River Apr 25, 2026 +3
Texas is a special place with special people. I would know. I are one.
3
HolyToast666 Apr 25, 2026 +2
The Pro-Life crowd too
2
CDavis10717 Apr 25, 2026 +2
I thought “Real Texans” don’t worry about safety, don’t ask questions……… Texas politics is a joke.
2
FunkyPlunkett Apr 25, 2026 +2
You would be surprised the locals in Kerrville and etc think the news is out to make them look bad. Yeah nothing about the kids just locals don’t want to look bad on cnn
2
Gloomy-Insurance-739 Apr 25, 2026 +1
That'd be like opening up a camp Crystal lake. What are they f****** crazy! Lol
1
Good_Nyborg Apr 25, 2026 +2
Totally messed up to reopen. Like totally messed up. But at least think of the awesome ghost stories they could tell there now!
2
steathrazor Apr 25, 2026 +1
No shit, why even consider reopening after such a catastrophic f*** up costing the lives it did
1
vs-1680 Apr 25, 2026 +1
It Texas is letting christians do something, you know it must still be WILDLY dangerous and neglectful.
1
librarianjenn Apr 25, 2026 +1
[This is an excellent article](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/camp-mystic-texas-flood-deaths.html) about the flood. The moms that are still fighting to send their daughters there are just insane. I’m sorry, it’s paywalled
1
Warcraft_Fan Apr 25, 2026 +1
How many are still missing from the flood? Almost a dozen I think, they could be buried under silt in the river. I wouldn't want to sleep near an unmarked grave
1
Sweaty_Marzipan4274 Apr 25, 2026 +1
I bet a developer will try and buy the land and put houses in it, bc red state
1
sfearing91 Apr 25, 2026 +1
Texas government is deficient in caring for its people. There fixed it
1
abgry_krakow87 Apr 25, 2026 +1
Religious conservatives do care about preventing loss of life, they care about maximizing profits.
1
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