Camp Mystic in Texas Is Set to Reopen a Year After Flooding There Killed 27 People

The kind of devastation that befell campers and counselors at Camp Mystic this summer is rare even by the standards of natural disasters. The all-girls camp in Texas was devastated by flooding in July of 2025 that killed 27 counselors and campers, and it would be understandable for the owners to decide to walk away after such devastation.

Instead, according to the Associated Press, the camp is preparing for a partial reopening next summer. Here's what we know about that reopening.

In a letter to Camp Mystic families, the owners said that the area of the camp along the Guadalupe River that was destroyed by flooding would not reopen next year, but other parts of the camp would. This comes as some at the camp have been critical of the camp over its safety protocols, and weeks after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed tougher camp safety rules into law.

The new rules prohibit cabins in dangerous parts of flood zones and also require camp staff to come up with detailed emergency plans, to train workers, and to install and maintain emergency warning systems.

“As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost,” the letter announcing the camp would reopen said.

Campers and counselors were killed when flood waters rose quickly on the morning of July 4.

In all, more than 130 people were killed in the flooding, and many naturally wondered how things could have gone so horribly wrong. The camp was first founded in 1926 and did not evacuate even though staff had been monitoring the storm the night before. It was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet to 29.5 feet in the span of a single hour. The state law also allows $240 million for disaster relief and funding for the installation of an emergency warning system.

In addition to reopening, the camp also announced that it will be building a memorial to those lost.

Michael McCown, who lost his 8-year-old daughter Liane in the flooding, was among the parents who urged lawmakers to act in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“It will hurt my family forever that, for reasons I still do not know, these protections were not in place nor thought out thoroughly for my daughter and the rest of the girls here,” he said in August.

Cici Steward, whose daughter is still missing, made it clear that she was upset at Camp Mystic.

“For my family, these months have felt like an eternity. For the camp, it seems like nothing more than a brief pause before business as usual,” she said in a statement Tuesday to The New York Times. “Camp Mystic is pressing ahead with reopening, even if it means inviting girls to swim in the same river that may potentially still hold my daughter’s body.”

Camp Mystic is going to reopen, but it's unclear whether anyone will be back. Given the losses they sustained, it's hard to blame them.