Families of victims say Camp Mystic’s operators failed to protect campers as life-threatening floodwaters approached, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Travis County state court in Austin. The suit, by relatives of five campers and two teenage counselors who died, seeks more than $1 million in damages but does not specify an exact amount.
The plaintiffs allege the camp directed a groundskeeper to spend more than an hour removing equipment while girls and counselors in cabins nearest the Guadalupe River were ordered to remain there as floodwaters rose. “These young girls died because a for-profit camp put profit over safety,” the lawsuit says, accusing the camp of keeping cabins in flood-prone areas rather than relocating them to avoid expense.
The complaint also contends the camp failed to prepare safe evacuation plans, despite state rules requiring such plans, and maintained a policy of instructing campers and counselors to stay in cabins during threats. Defendants named include Camp Mystic, affiliated entities and owners, including the estate and family of camp owner Richard Eastland, who also died in the flooding. A separate, similar lawsuit was filed Monday by the family of Eloise Peck, another camper killed in the flood.
The deaths occurred early on July 4 when fast-rising waters swept through a low-lying section of the century-old camp. Twenty-five girls and two teen counselors were killed there. The broader flash flooding that day killed at least 136 people. County officials were reportedly asleep or out of town; camp leadership had been monitoring the weather, but it is unclear whether an urgent National Weather Service warning that triggered an emergency alert reached them.
Camp Mystic, established in 1926, did not evacuate as the Guadalupe River rose from about 14 feet to 29.5 feet within roughly an hour. Telephone and email messages to an attorney for the camp seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Ryan DeWitt, whose daughter Molly DeWitt was among those killed, said the lawsuit is a step toward finding peace. “We trust that through this process, light will be shed on what happened, and our hope is that justice will pave the way for prevention and much-needed safety reform,” he said.
The fatalities and anguished testimony from families to Texas lawmakers prompted a series of new laws intended to prevent similar tragedies.
