Texas camp where 25 girls died drops reopening plans after parents protest

Camp Mystic, a Texas all-girls camp where 25 children and two counsellors died in last year's devastating floods, says it will not reopen this summer.

The camp said it had planned to host 800 girls to a different location this summer, which did not experience any fatalities, before withdrawing its application for a license.

"No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July's tragedy," it said.

The withdrawal follows mounting pressure from parents of girls who died at the camp. Multiple investigations into the evacuation plans of the camp remain ongoing.

More than 130 people died in the central Texas floods over the 4 July holiday that shocked the nation and brought into sharp focus several emergency warning failures in the state.

The tragedy at the private 700‑acre private Christian summer camp founded in 1926, received particular attention given the flood-prone location.

The camp filed its application to renew its license and reopen this summer, before Texas lawmakers heard two days of heart wrenching testimony from flooding event investigators.

Family members of those who were killed urged authorities not to allow the camp to reopen.

A review by the Texas Department of State Health Services, reported by The New York Times, said the camp's emergency plans must undergo major revisions to receive a license to reopen.

On Thursday, the camp said in a statement that it would not seek to make those corrections and would instead opt to withdraw.

"Rather than risk defending our rights under Texas law in a manner that may unintentionally effect further harm, we choose rather to withdraw our application for the 2026 camp season," it said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement that the camp will remain closed for the year following its decision, adding that the Texas Department of State Health Services is continuing its investigation.

Reactions from families of the victims were mixed, with some questioning the camp's motives.

Cici and Will Steward, whose eight-year-old daughter Cila remains the only child still missing after the floods, said they were "grateful that no child will be placed in the Eastlands' care this summer", referring to the family that operates the camp.

"Camp Mystic did not withdraw its application out of grace. It withdrew because the State of Texas was prepared to deny it," they said in a statement.

Sam Taylor, an attorney representing the families of six girls who died in a lawsuit against the camp, said they were "grateful that no other Texas family will hand their daughter over to Camp Mystic this summer".

"But until there is full accountability for what happened on July 4 and until there are real, enforceable safeguards for every child sent to a Texas summer camp, our work continues."

But some parents had considered returning their children to the camp as part of the healing process.

Liberty Lindley, whose 10-year-old daughter survived the flood, said confronting the experience could be empowering.

"Emotionally, that's part of the work: facing the water again, the fears," she told the Washington Post. "It's so important for them to take their power back."