Camp Mystic Files for Bankruptcy Nearly a Year After Deadly Texas Flood That Killed 27
Camp Mystic, the Texas summer camp where 27 people died in catastrophic floodwaters on July 4, 2025, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization — a move that immediately pauses the multiple lawsuits filed against the camp by victims' families.
The filing was made Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston. In court paperwork, the century-old all-girls Christian camp listed debts exceeding $10 million against assets of just $100,001 to $500,000 — a gap that legal experts say significantly limits what families could realistically recover.
What Happened on July 4, 2025
In the early morning hours of July 4, 2025, floodwaters from the Guadalupe River surged through Camp Mystic's grounds near Hunt, Texas, in the Hill Country. Twenty-five girls, two teenage counselors and camp director Dick Eastland were killed. The flooding that day killed at least 136 people total along a several-mile stretch of the river, making it one of the deadliest flash flood disasters in Texas history.
Families of the victims packed subsequent court hearings wearing "Heaven's 27" pins bearing photographs of their daughters. They heard testimony describing missed flood warning signs, video footage of raging floodwaters as a girl screamed for help in the distance, and accounts of a decision to leave the girls in their cabins until it was too late.
What Investigators Found
A recent investigative report presented to a joint Texas House and Senate committee reached four key conclusions about the deaths. Investigators found that Camp Mystic lacked written emergency plans that complied with state requirements, failed to adequately prepare for the approaching storm and did not evacuate in a timely manner despite having opportunities to do so. Investigators also concluded that the reunification effort in the aftermath was chaotic and had traumatic effects on families.
The camp's chief health officer, Mary Elizabeth Eastland, had her nursing license temporarily suspended following the tragedy. Under an agreed order approved in May, the Texas Board of Nursing found she failed to ensure the camp's emergency nursing manual included adequate emergency planning procedures, failed to contact 911 after campers and staff were reported missing and failed to report the deaths to state authorities within the required 24-hour window.
The Lawsuits — Now on Hold
Families of the victims filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in November 2025 seeking more than $1 million in damages, alleging camp operators failed to take the necessary steps to protect the girls as life-threatening floodwaters approached. The Chapter 11 filing immediately halts those proceedings, pausing all hearings and testimony and reshaping how and when any financial recovery could occur.
The Failed Reopening
The bankruptcy filing comes weeks after Camp Mystic abandoned plans to reopen for the summer of 2026. For months, the camp went back and forth on whether to welcome campers back. Camp Mystic's attorney had said the camp was prepared to reopen for nearly 900 campers, and the Eastland family stressed that hundreds of families wanted to return to what they described as a special place for generations of Texans.
But in April, the camp withdrew its application for a 2026 summer license from the Texas Department of State Health Services amid sustained outrage from victims' families and lawmakers who argued the camp should not reopen while lawsuits and investigations remained unresolved. Before withdrawing, the camp had invited journalists and lawmakers to tour safety improvements and promised no activities would take place in the low-lying area devastated by the flood.
Representatives for Camp Mystic and the Eastland family did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
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