A flood investigator told Texas legislators Camp Mystic lacked emergency training, an evacuation plan, and basic supplies—echoing calls to delay renewing its license.
The hearing at the Texas Capitol on Monday carried a grim gravity: detailed, cabin-by-cabin testimony about how a Fourth of July flood turned seconds into catastrophe.
The message from investigator Casey Garrett was blunt and consistent—Camp Mystic’s staff did not have the preparation. organization. or emergency equipment to execute a safe evacuation once the Guadalupe River surged.. In the first moments after the National Weather Service issued warning. Garrett told lawmakers. counselors and adults instead improvised in ways that proved fatal for 25 campers. two counselors. and the camp’s executive director.
Flood warning came—but staff had no evacuation system
Garrett described a camp culture built on obedience and legacy. where staff felt constrained by fear of consequences from the executive director and by a hierarchy that left little room for rapid. independent action.. She said counselors believed they could get in trouble if they took girls into lightning or ran to the office during torrential weather.. That matters because emergency situations require quick authority and clear procedures—conditions Garrett said were missing.
Training and supplies absent when minutes mattered most
After an initial flood watch was in place on July 3. Garrett said staff could have moved campers to a safer section of the property for a slumber party.. Instead. she said the camp kept to routine—taps played. the night continued—and when conditions worsened. the response still lacked the structure needed to direct kids to safety efficiently.
Garrett’s testimony also centered on coordination failures after early warning.. She described how the executive director monitored weather and communicated with family members—at one point radioing about removing equipment from the waterfront—but that the crucial command to evacuate came later than it should have.. Even when evacuation directions started, Garrett said adults worked piecemeal rather than using a unified plan or shared communications channel.
Why this was different—and why families are demanding accountability
Garrett also pointed to the risks facing younger campers and first-time counselors.. She said some cabins had only two counselors instead of the historically typical three. and that delays or partial evacuations left the most vulnerable children without adequate oversight and guidance.. The investigator urged lawmakers to view the flood response as something that could have been organized—because it was not simply weather overpowering humans. but humans without a playbook.
The testimony included details about the Bubble Inn cabin. where the youngest girls were reportedly instructed to evacuate in a way that did not yield survivable outcomes.. Garrett emphasized that at least some of the girls wound up in the executive director’s vehicle during the crisis. including a distress exchange she described on screen.. Another family of details described adults trapped by circumstances—unable to open doors. trying to find alternative routes. coordinating through vents—while water rose and conditions closed in.
The political stakes: licensing. lawsuits. and a rushed summer ahead
Lt.. Gov.. Dan Patrick has argued publicly that the state should deny the camp’s license. pointing to evidence he says supports keeping children away until investigations are complete.. After the hearing. he reiterated the demand on social media. tying it to families who lost children and to the call that operations should not resume under uncertainty.. The camp. for its part. has indicated it intends to welcome campers back this summer on a portion of the property separate from where the deaths occurred.
State lawmakers—across party lines in tone. if not always in conclusion—treated Garrett’s testimony as something that should not be allowed to fade into a report.. “This loss of life was preventable,” Sen.. Pete Flores said in opening remarks.. Rep.. Joe Moody described the preventability and its human toll as almost incomprehensible.
There’s a reason the hearing resonated politically: Texas has been wrestling with how quickly and stringently it should enforce youth-safety standards after deadly incidents.. Legislators previously passed measures after the flood. including steps aimed at evacuating flood-prone camps as soon as a flash flood warning is issued.. Garrett’s account suggests those requirements—if poorly implemented or not fully internalized—can still leave children exposed when staff are forced to improvise.
For families. the hearing is not abstract policy; it is an attempt to map responsibility onto the timeline—what was known. when it was known. and what a functioning emergency plan would have demanded.. For lawmakers, it’s a question of enforcement speed and licensing leverage before summer crowds return.
Garrett urged lawmakers not to let the investigation work languish.. In practical terms. that means translating testimony into enforceable standards: clearer evacuation protocols. training expectations that can be verified. communications procedures that can function at night. and requirements for basic supplies that don’t appear in the moment of crisis.
As the state moves toward decisions about Camp Mystic’s license later this year, the central theme from Monday’s testimony remains hard to escape: when a disaster arrives, preparation isn’t just safety—it’s the difference between a plan and panic.