Camp Mystic cabins were in known flood zone — despite recent $5M overhaul

More than a dozen Camp Mystic cabins were in a known flood zone, with girls left without phones, internet or power when the devastating flash floods swept through the century-old summer destination in Texas on Friday.

Despite a recent multimillion-dollar overhaul of the Christian girls’ camp in Kerr County, the site still had limited to no flood defense, with some of the older campers resorting to shining flashlights from the cabins in an attempt to attract the attention of rescuers.

At least 19 cabins at Camp Mystic were located in designated flood zones, including some in an area deemed “extremely hazardous” by the county, analysis of federal data by the New York Times shows.

Six years ago, the camp — founded in 1926 — was expanded in a $5 million construction project, but instead of relocating cabins to higher grounds, new ones were added in the flood zone, analysis shows.

The older cabins along the river also remained in use, data shows.

Some of the cabins were so close to the banks of the Guadalupe River that they were considered part of the river’s “floodway,” meaning any construction is either banned or extremely restricted by many states and counties.

Floodways were considered “an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of floodwaters which carry debris, potential projectiles and erosion potential,” Kerr County said when it adopted new rules in 2020, one year after the Camp Mystic construction work, to limit new construction in floodways.

Even some of the new cabins, built on a hillside to the south of the main camp called Cypress Lake, were still in areas at risk of flooding, maps of the zone show.

The dangers posed by flash flooding in Kerr County, which lies in the middle of the Texas Hill Country, were known for decades by Camp Mystic managers and emergency officials.

After 10 teenagers were killed by devastating flooding at a nearby camp in 1987, rain gauges were installed in the region to notify emergency personnel of imminent floods.

In addition, many of the campers and counselors didn’t have their phones on them, as the children were not allowed access to any technology, camp counselor Nancy Clement, 18, told the Times.

As rising floodwaters on July 4 took out the power, the camp lost all internet service and was cut off from the outside world.

Girls from one cabin ran to the office of a retired police officer kept on site to help provide security as floodwaters rose in the early hours of the holiday.

The camp owners drove between cabins to wake up the children, while a teen counselor stood on a porch and flashed her flashlight on and off while screaming for help, Clement said.

Clement and several others began piling their belongings on top of their mattresses inside a staff cabin, before their door cracked in half and flood water poured in, she said.

Some of the women and girls climbed onto a windowsill and pulled themselves and others up onto the roof of the cabin.

Girls could be heard singing some of their camp songs about God’s love in a nearby building, Clement described.

One clung onto her phone, keys and a plushie toy she had owned since childhood as she waited for the water to recede, she said.

Another counselor, Holly Kate Hurley, recalled the helplessness of being unable to look for the missing girls and counselors.

“That was the hardest part — knowing there were girls out there fighting for their lives and there was nothing we could do,” she said.

A total of 27 children and staff members are known to have died in the flooding, while five young campers and one counselor are still unaccounted for.

Camp Mystic officials did not respond immediately to requests for comment regarding the camp’s construction or flood preparations.

It passed a state inspection on July 2, just two days before the deadly flooding, with inspectors noting that emergency and evacuations were in place, although this was not detailed in the report.

“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,” camp officials said in a statement on the camp’s website.