Camp Mystic devastated by floodwaters

Camp Mystic, the private Christian summer camp for girls that sits on the banks of the Guadalupe River, has confirmed the deaths of 27 campers and counselors after a catastrophic flood devastated the campgrounds on Friday.

"Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe river,” a statement on the camp’s website reads.

The death toll for the flood has reached 75, including 48 adults and 27 children. Ten campers and one counselor from Mystic remain unaccounted for, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.

Camp Mystic is situated on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River, three miles southwest of Hunt in West Kerr County.

Approximately 750 children were at Camp Mystic when flooding began, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Early Friday morning, more than 100 game wardens and an aviation group tried to access the camp, but it wasn’t until after midday that they were able to enter the camp and start rescuing children, according to officials.

Late Friday morning, the camp office sent out a message to families saying they had sustained “catastrophic flood levels” and were working with search and rescue teams as the highway to access the camp had been washed away.

“If your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified,” the message stated. “If you have not been personally contacted, then your daughter is accounted for.”

Elinor Lester, a 13-year-old camper, recounted the flooding at Camp Mystic to The Associated Press.

She recalled startling awake around 1:30 a.m. due to loud thunder and water hitting the cabin windows.

Lester was housed in a cabin for older girls on elevated ground known as Senior Hill.

Cabins that housed some of the youngest campers situated along the riverbanks were the first to flood, Lester said.

The flood gauge in Hunt, about five miles upstream from the camp, showed that the water level rose 20 feet — from normal to major flooding — between about 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on July 4.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews, vowed that authorities will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise.

Dozens of families shared photos of missing campers and contact information to local Facebook groups, stating that they received phone calls from safety officials informing them that their daughters had not yet been located.

After 7 p.m. Friday, the Texas Game Wardens announced they had reached the camp and were starting to bring campers to safety.

The. U.S. Coast Guard reported it evacuated 15 people from the camp via helicopter.

MYSTIC HEROES

In a post on social media Saturday evening, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry expressed his gratitude to Camp Mystic counselor Emma Foltz for saving 14 campers.

"She played an instrumental role in helping evacuate 14 of her campers to safety," Landry wrote in a Facebook post. "Please join me in thanking Emma for all her hard work and bravery under immense pressure."

According to the Facebook post, Foltz has served as a counselor at Camp Mystic in Hunt for three years. She was raised in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is currently a senior at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana.

Two 19-year-old counselors, Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate, are reported to have saved 20 children during the flooding.

According to their interview with N+ Foro, when the rain began around 1 a.m. and quickly intensified, the young women took decisive action to protect the children under their supervision.

“Before dinner, we started getting the girls ready. We thought we were going to be evacuated, and we started writing our names on our skins. We told them to pack a suitcase with their stuff, to prepare them for evacuation," Zárate explained in an exclusive interview with N+ Foro.

In a statement to CNN, Glenn Juenke said he has served as the night watchman at the camp for the past four summers and was on duty the night the floodwaters began to rush into the campgrounds.

Juenke explained the campers were inside a building called the Wiggle Inn, and when the water started to rise, he placed the girls on mattresses to help them ride it out safely.

“I witnessed firsthand the courage and faith that your daughters displayed during some of the most terrifying moments of their young lives,” Juenke said. “Each of those sweet girls (were) cold, wet, and frightened — but they were also incredibly brave. They trusted me, and we leaned on each other through a long, harrowing night together inside their cabin.”

DICK EASTLAND

Dick Eastland, co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, is reported to have died in the floodwaters on the campgrounds.

His son, Richard Eastland Jr., told the Washington Post that his father died trying to save campers as floodwaters from the Guadalupe River overwhelmed the camp.

Eastland was trying to rescue the campers in the Bubble Inn cabin, which is about 150 yards from the river's edge, when he was swept into the water, his son said.

Eastland and his wife, Tweety, have been with the camp since 1974 and were third-generation managers of the facility, which has been in their family since 1939, according to the Camp Mystic website.

Both Dick and Tweety Eastland attended The University of Texas in Austin. After they married and graduated from college, the couple decided to make their home at Mystic.

Tweety Eastland is reported to have survived the Friday flooding.

HISTORY OF CAMP MYSTIC

Camp Mystic was established in 1926 by The University of Texas coach “Doc” Stewart, and was set to celebrate its centennial next year.

In 1939, Agnes Stacy and her husband, "Pop" Stacey, purchased the camp.

The camp’s website notes that it has been in operation each summer since 1926, aside from three years during World War II from 1943-45, when it was leased by the U.S. government as a recovery facility for Army Air Corps veterans.

Iney and Frank Harrison were directors of Mystic from 1948 until their retirement in 1987.

Mystic draws attendees from across Texas and beyond. Campers can attend once they have completed second grade, and programming includes archery, cooking, cheerleading, fishing and a variety of sports.

Camp Mystic’s long history has helped it develop a notable list of alumni that include family members of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, Secretary of State James Baker and several Texas governors, according to Texas Monthly.

Former First Lady Laura Bush worked as a camp counselor at Mystic while she attended Southern Methodist University.

Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, said her mother worked as a drama counselor.

"My mom was a counselor there, but also so many of my friends were raised at this camp. Texas camps are institutions," she said on the Today Show. "This camp was 100 years old, so grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there.

"Many of my friends were there, had their kids there last week, and the stories that I heard over the last couple of days were beautiful and heartbreaking," she added, noting that Texas has a special "type of resilience" where communities come together in times of hardship.

ECHOES OF 1987 FLOOD

This catastrophe echoes the July 16, 1987, Kerr County flood when campers at the Pot O' Gold Ranch outside of Comfort were swept away by rushing flood waters, according to the National Weather Service. Ten of the teenagers drowned.

The remaining 33 children and adults survived as a result of a series of rescues, including dramatic helicopter rescues of several clinging to tree tops, conducted by Texas DPS, the U.S. Army's 507th Medical Division and a local television news station from San Antonio.

This article was originally published in the July 8, 2025 edition of the Kerrville Daily Times and the Galveston County Daily News. It was used to contribute to the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.