Camp Mystic, scene of Texas flooding disaster, won’t reopen this summer : NPR
Camp Mystic, the private all-girls camp where 27 people died during last year’s flooding in central Texas, announced it was withdrawing its application to reopen this summer.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Camp Mystic will not reopen this summer. This is a private Christian summer camp for girls in Texas, where 25 campers and two counselors died during last July’s flooding in the Hill Country. Kailey Hunt of member station KUT reports.
KAILEY HUNT, BYLINE: Just weeks before it plans to welcome hundreds of children back to the Texas Hill Country, Camp Mystic has withdrawn its application to renew its operating license for the 2026 summer camp season. The camp had already been informed by state health officials that its operating license might not be renewed unless it makes major revisions to its emergency plan. In a statement released Thursday, the camp said, quote, “No administrative proceedings or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, investigations continue, and so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy.”
Cile, the 8-year-old daughter of CiCi and Will Steward, is still missing after last July’s floods. She is the only missing camper. Yesterday, they described the camp’s decision as long overdue. The Stewards said, quote, “Camp Mystic did not withdraw its application out of grace. It withdrew because the State of Texas was prepared to deny it.” At a legislative hearing in Austin earlier this week, CiCi Steward said not a day goes by that she doesn’t think about Cile. She put a golden hummingbird pin on her blouse as she spoke.
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CICI STEWARD: Cile moved through the world like a hummingbird, fast and bright and agile, always on the move and hard to pin down, even when she was standing right in front of you. Like my daughter, a hummingbird’s life is often tragically short.
HUNT: At the same legislative hearing, Edward Eastland, one of the camp’s owners and directors, tearfully apologized to the families of the 27 girls who died. His father, the camp’s executive director, also died in the floods.
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EDWARD EASTLAND: I think about the night of the flood, every moment of every day. We did our best that night, and it wasn’t enough to save your daughters. We were devastated alongside you. I regret not communicating more with each of you sooner and I am truly sorry.
HUNT: More than a dozen families are suing the camp and its leaders for negligent behavior before and during the July 4 flood. Camp Mystic remains under investigation by state health officials after hundreds of complaints were filed against it following 28 deaths last summer. The camp said it was cooperating with investigators. More than one hundred and thirty people died in the floods.
For NPR News, I’m Kailey Hunt in Austin.
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