A devastating flash flood at Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp in Hunt, Texas, has left 27 campers and counselors dead, according to authorities. The camp is located along the Guadalupe River, which rose rapidly during the early morning hours of July 4.
Timeline of Evacuation Efforts
Camp Mystic’s executive director, Dick Eastland, received the first National Weather Service (NWS) alert warning of “life-threatening flash flooding” at 1:14 a.m., said Eastland family spokesperson Jeff Carr. About 45 minutes later, Eastland began evacuating campers from their cabins, most of which had no access to electronics and were in the river’s floodway—an area Kerr County officials have called “extremely hazardous.”
Carr said Eastland coordinated via walkie-talkie with family and staff to assess the situation. Evacuations started around 2:00 a.m., as floodwaters began rising quickly. Initially, Carr had told The Washington Post that the process began at 2:30 a.m. but later clarified the earlier timeline to ABC News, noting that the details remain preliminary.
Eastland Died Trying to Save Campers
Eastland lost his life while attempting to evacuate campers. As the situation worsened, campers were moved to the camp’s recreational center, a safer area on higher ground.
At 4:03 a.m., the NWS escalated the warning to a “Flash Flood Emergency,” calling it a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” and urging people in South-central Kerr County, including Hunt, to seek higher ground immediately.
Aftermath
Debris now covers much of the Camp Mystic area, a grim reminder of the sudden and deadly power of the floodwaters. The event has raised concerns about safety protocols in flood-prone zones like the river’s floodway where some camp structures were built.
For more updates on this catastrophic event, stay tuned to Que Onda Magazine.