Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy after deadly Texas flood

Camp Mystic, the Texas Christian summer camp where floodwaters killed 25 campers, two teenage counselors and its director last July, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization as it faces lawsuits, investigations and scrutiny over its emergency planning.

The filing, submitted Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, lists the camp’s debt as exceeding $10 million. The camp reported assets between $100,001 and $500,000, according to court records reviewed by CBS News Texas. The filing says funds will be available for distribution to between 1,000 and 5,000 unsecured creditors.

Edward S. Eastland, a member of the family that owns the camp, is listed as the camp’s authorized representative. Four affiliated entities appear in the filing: Camp Mystic LLC, Natural Fountains Properties Inc., Mystic Camps Family Partnership Ltd. and Mystic Camps Management LLC.

The bankruptcy comes nearly a year after the July 4, 2025, flood, when water from the Guadalupe River surged through the nearly 100-year-old all-girls camp along the riverbank. Dick Eastland, the camp’s director and owner, was among those killed.

State investigators recently told a joint Texas House and Senate committee that Camp Mystic lacked written emergency plans that complied with state requirements, did not adequately prepare for the storm and did not evacuate in a timely manner despite having ample opportunities. Investigators also said reunification efforts and incident management were chaotic and had traumatic effects on families.

The Guardian reported that investigators found the camp “did not provide adequate training for staff in emergency situations” and lacked adequate “advance emergency planning.” The report also found at least “39 adults present” at the camp, in addition to teenage counselors, “who could have been tasked to assist with an orderly flood evacuation,” but that “there was no plan for them to do so, and no training that would have prepared them for what to do.”

Several families have sued the camp and the Eastland family, accusing them of gross negligence. Across multiple lawsuits, families have called the disaster “entirely preventable” and alleged camp leaders ignored known flood risks, failed to implement adequate safety procedures and failed to protect campers and counselors. One lawsuit filed on behalf of families of five campers and two counselors accused the camp of putting “profit over safety” by housing campers “in cabins sitting in flood-prone areas, despite the risk” to “avoid the cost” of relocating them, The Guardian reported.

A Texas judge earlier this year ordered camp leaders to preserve damaged cabins and flood-affected land while litigation continues.

An attorney for Camp Mystic said in a statement last year that the camp empathizes “with the families of the campers and counselors and all families in the Hill Country who lost loved ones in the horrific and unprecedented flood of [4 July].” The attorney said the camp intends to “demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of flood waters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area.”

“We disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well,” the lawyer added. “We will thoroughly respond to these accusations in due course.”

CBS News Texas reported that nine Camp Mystic families also sued Texas officials, alleging the Department of State Health Services licensed the camp despite its failure to maintain a written and posted evacuation plan for each building. The lawsuit says the agency inspected and licensed the camp two days before the flood.

Camp Mystic withdrew its application for a summer 2026 camp license after a public hearing in April, when Texas lawmakers sharply criticized its operators. Lawmakers later approved new summer camp safety requirements, including a fiber-optic internet connection. State Rep. Wes Virdell told CBS News Texas that “only nine out of, I think maybe 300 camps” had been approved for a license for the coming summer because of the new law, while State Sen. Charles Perry said the internet requirement “needs to get fixed.”