Four months after catastrophic floodwaters devastated Camp Mystic, families of the victims have filed multiple lawsuits accusing the camp and its owners of gross negligence.
On Monday, Nov. 10, relatives of five campers and two counselors initiated legal action, alleging that the owners of the all-girls camp prioritized financial concerns over the safety of children and staff, according to CNN, NBC News, and The New York Times.
The lawsuit states: “Today, campers Margaret, Lila, Molly, Lainey, and Blakely should be third graders, and counselors Chloe and Katherine should be freshmen at the University of Texas. They all are gone,” per CNN.
Families argue that the Kerr County, Texas, camp deliberately operated in a flood-prone location without preparing proper safety procedures. When historic flooding struck in the early hours of July 4, the owners allegedly instructed groundskeepers to secure equipment for more than an hour instead of initiating an evacuation, CNN reported, citing the complaint.
The lawsuit further claims that two cabins — Bubble Inn and Twins — were never evacuated, even though other campers were moved roughly 300 feet to higher ground. According to the complaint, “the Camp chose to order its campers and counselors to remain in the Bubble Inn and Twins cabins while the flood waters overwhelmed the camp,” leading to what plaintiffs described as a “hopeless rescue effort” once conditions had become too dangerous.
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In total, 25 young campers, two counselors, and the camp’s 70-year-old executive director, Richard “Dick” Eastland, died during the disaster, according to the outlets. Although multiple camps across Hill Country were evacuated that night, Camp Mystic was the only sleepaway camp where campers lost their lives, the Times reported. The storm caused the Guadalupe River to surge to unprecedented levels, leaving more than 130 people dead across central Texas.
Additional lawsuits were filed the same day, including one from the family of 8-year-old Eloise “Lulu” Peck and another from the family of 9-year-old Ellen Getten, CNN reported. Another suit was filed on behalf of the families of Virginia “Wynne” Naylor, Hadley Hanna, Jane “Janie” Hunt, Lucy Dillon, Kellyanne Lytal, and Virginia Hollis.
“This case is about accountability,” attorney Mark Lanier said in a statement. “These six families entrusted Camp Mystic with the lives of their 8- and 9-year-old daughters, but the owners failed in every conceivable way. Unfortunately, litigation is now the only way to implement changes to ensure no other child dies from the same preventable failures.”
According to the Times, the National Weather Service issued a life-threatening flood warning at 1:14 a.m. At around 1:45 a.m., Richard and Edward Eastland met and instructed staff to secure camp equipment. By 2:20 a.m., counselors alerted them that water was entering the cabin closest to the river, but the men allegedly ordered the girls to stay inside. Roughly 10 minutes later, some cabins began evacuating toward a nearby recreation hall, with the Eastlands driving some campers themselves.
One hour later, only five of the 11 flood-zone cabins had been evacuated. Counselors reportedly guided remaining children to safety on their own, with no formal instructions from leadership until later that morning.
By approximately 3:51 a.m., the complaint states, the executive director’s SUV — filled with campers from Bubble Inn — was swept away by floodwaters. No one inside survived. Although celebrated by some as a hero after his death, the legal filing argues that Dick Eastland was “grossly negligent” for attempting to drive children through rapidly rising water.
Camp Mystic’s lawyer, Mikal Watts, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Camp attorney Jeff Ray issued a statement to CNN saying, “We empathize 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 July 4.” Ray added that the camp plans to show the flooding exceeded all expectations and that “we disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings.”
Watts later told CNN in October that camp leaders’ actions during the emergency successfully evacuated 166 girls. “This was an unprecedented, once-in-a-thousand-year event, that nobody thought was even possible,” he said.
In the aftermath, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed new camp safety regulations into law under Senate Bill 1, also known as the “Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act,” CNN reported. During an emotional interview about the legislation, Blake Bonner — father of Lila — said, “Our girls’ legacy is not that they died in vain. Our girls’ legacy is that this again is a catalyst for change.”
Camp Mystic plans to reopen one of its locations this summer, though the Guadalupe campus sustained too much damage to operate for the 2026 season.
