A Texas summer camp leader waited more than an hour after receiving a severe weather warning before starting an evacuation. The delay led to the deaths of 27 children and staff as floods hit Camp Mystic in the early hours of July 4.
Richard “Dick” Eastland, the 70-year-old leader of the all-girls Christian camp on the Guadalupe River, died while trying to move a group of young girls to safety. His truck was swept away by the rising floodwaters.
The National Weather Service sent a warning to Eastland’s phone at 1:14 a.m., alerting him to life-threatening flash flooding. But it wasn’t until 2:30 a.m. that he ordered the evacuation, even though rain was still falling and the river continued to rise rapidly.
Nearly 700 girls were asleep in their dorms at the time. The camp’s no-phone policy meant that campers didn’t have access to weather alerts. Even the counselors had to hand over their phones, leaving them without any real-time updates.
Family spokesperson Jeff Carr said Eastland discussed the alert with relatives who lived and worked at the 725-acre camp. They communicated by walkie-talkie and considered how to respond. Carr explained that the weather alert did not include any official evacuation order. That decision would have needed to come from local authorities.
Many of the fatalities occurred in cabins located near the river. A review found that the dorms known as Bubble Inn and Twins were surrounded by fast-rising water that reached four feet deep. The Guadalupe River eventually peaked at 37.5 feet, according to the US Geological Survey.
Teenage counselors, separated from adult supervisors, were left to make fast and critical decisions on their own. Some helped campers escape through windows and led them to higher ground.
The Eastland family later shared their version of the timeline to stop rumors and misinformation. Jeff Carr said it was their first chance to gather as a family and reflect on the tragedy. “We hope sharing these details avoids more confusion,” he added.
Despite the new information, many questions remain. The Hunt volunteer fire department, located closest to Camp Mystic, reported that it never received any emergency calls from the camp. Some families also said they weren’t notified about the flooding until hours later, with one email reportedly sent close to 11:30 a.m.
The disaster has led to growing criticism of how local authorities and camp staff handled the emergency. Officials in Kerr County, which suffered the worst of the flooding, revealed new updates at a public meeting held on July 15.
County Judge Rob Kelly described how trailers filled with families were carried away by the floodwaters. One trailer was discovered buried under 27 feet of gravel. Sonar teams are still scanning rivers and nearby lakes to locate missing people.
Two lakes connected to the Guadalupe River will be drained to assist in the search. Officials are using underwater equipment to comb through areas where debris and trailers may be trapped.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told the public that the recovery could take up to six months. So far, over 2,200 people from different local, state, and federal agencies have joined the effort.
Rescue operations had to pause on Sunday and Monday due to more heavy rain, which made conditions too dangerous to continue. There is still fear of more flooding in the days ahead.
The tragedy echoes a similar deadly flood in 1987, prompting survivors to question what lessons were missed. This new disaster has left families grieving and looking for answers as investigations continue.
