Before-and-after satellite images show Camp Mystic's destruction, a week after Texas flash floods
- - - Before-and-after satellite images show Camp Mystic's destruction, a week after Texas flash floods
Katie MatherJuly 11, 2025 at 1:03 PM
A volunteer holds up a T-shirt with the words “Camp Mystic” on it. (Danielle Villasana/Getty Images)
Authorities and volunteers continue to search for more than 170 missing people in central Texas after flash floods devastated the area last weekend. At least 121 people have been confirmed dead from the flooding, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and local law enforcement, which was caused by the Guadalupe River near Kerrville rising 26 feet within 45 minutes.
The Guadalupe River runs through an area nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley” because of how common floods are during storms there. A large majority of the deaths were in Kerr County, where Camp Mystic, an all-girls’ camp along the river, experienced severe flooding in the early morning hours of July 4.
At least 27 people at Camp Mystic — campers and counselors — died during the flood, including the camp’s owner and executive director, Dick Eastland, who died trying to rescue some of his young campers.
The victims were staying in lower-level cabins, which were located right by the river, while older campers were in cabins that were at a higher elevation, according to a map of the camp layout obtained by CBS News. Hunt, Texas, which is where Camp Mystic is located, is also a rural area with low water crossing bridges, which are high enough to allow water flow to run beneath them but can easily be flooded, which can make it hard for residents to fully evacuate the area, CBS News reported.
The camp, which was established in 1926, has experienced a long history of flooding from the Guadalupe River, leading to multiple evacuations and damages across the campgrounds, according to CNN. The July 4 flood was the most damaging disaster in the area, followed by a flooding in 1987 in which 10 children at a different camp nearby were killed.
Camp Mystic’s grounds were “horrendously ravaged” by the flooding, Abbott wrote in a social media post on July 5 after touring the campsite.
Below, satellite images show Camp Mystic and the Guadalupe River before and after the flooding.
State officials inspected Camp Mystic just two days before the flooding and found no deficiencies or violations in its list of health and safety criteria, the reported. Camp Mystic is responsible for developing its own emergency plan in these situations.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services told the publication days after the flood that the camp is required to post disaster plans in all camp buildings, but there were no plans filed with the state.
Five campers and one counselor were still missing as of July 10, according to Kerr County officials.
Before and after photos: Maxar Technologies via Getty Images
Source: AOL General News
