Texas camp should stay shut after deadly flood, parents say in emotional letters

Families of a half-dozen of the 27 campers and counselors who died at Camp Mystic in Texas during floods last summer urged state health regulators in dramatic and detailed letters not to renew the camp’s license with state investigations pending.

The letters allege that camp officials failed to prepare for flooding and other emergencies; failed to evacuate once the flooding began; and failed to notify parents of the dangerous conditions or that their daughters had been swept away in the deluge. In the days after the storm, the letters allege, camp officials failed to report the deaths of the girls and two counselors to government regulators as required by law. The letters note that Texas officials have closed state schools and treatment facilities after such “mass casualties” and “systemic failures.”

While state regulators allow camps to address past violations and become licensed, the letters note, “some violations, however, cannot be cured.”

Several of the families attended a three-day hearing in Austin this week in connection with a lawsuit filed against the all-girls Christian camp by CiCi and Will Steward, the parents of a girl who went missing in the flood and whose body has not been recovered. On Wednesday, Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble left in place an injunction that prevents the camp owners from altering any structures or land that was affected by the flood.

The letters, which were obtained exclusively by The Washington Post, call for the camp’s license to be denied or placed on hold “until every negligent action taken or not taken by those in charge … that fateful night, can be fully investigated” and “for due diligence, accountability, and prevention of further harm.”

“You must pause the reopening of Camp Mystic until every negligent action taken or not taken by those in charge of caring for her that fateful night can be fully investigated,” Jennifer and Doug Getten of Houston, parents of 9-year-old Ellen, wrote in one of six letters sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services and shared by families through their attorney.

They wrote that their older daughter, Gwynne, who survived the flood, suffers from anxiety and PTSD after she “was evacuated to what we understand to be an unsafe structure that swayed with the flood” and “repeatedly asked [camp] leadership where her little sister was because she couldn’t find her. Leadership ignored her questions.” Gwynne, who was airlifted out of the camp, now attends twice-weekly therapy, they wrote, but “blames herself for not saving Ellen.”

Camper Greta Toranzo, 10, died while evacuating on her own. She was swept away as she returned to fetch a pillow from her cabin, according to testimony in court this week.

“She deserved better from the Camp Mystic operators,” parents Ellen and Jorge Toranzo of Houston wrote in their complaint. “She deserved to be cared for and looked after as we trusted the camp with our daughter.”

Kristin and Matthew Pohl of Austin, whose 8-year-old daughter, Abby, died while their two older daughters survived the July 4 flood, wrote that they faulted camp officials’ “lack of leadership” or emergency plans, insisting, “The chaos that ensued that night was the result of the camp not having any formal evacuation plan for flooding.”

They wrote that their surviving daughters recounted how they were told to shelter in place during the flood and spent “hours of terror wondering if anyone would come and get them out of their cabins.”

All 13 campers and two counselors in Abby’s cabin, Bubble Inn, died.

The parents of one of her cabin mates, 8-year-old Mary Barrett Stevens, noted in their letter that she “deserved so much more care and love than what was provided to her by Camp Mystic operators.”

Callie and Michael McCown of Austin, whose 8-year-old daughter, Linnie, was also in Bubble Inn, wrote in their letter that their 3-year-old son, George, still asks to play with her daily. Before leaving for camp, Linnie had asked her parents not to travel because she was afraid they might die.

“There was never a thought in our minds that it would be the other way around,” they wrote.

Ellen and Andrew Sheedy of Houston called 8-year-old daughter Margaret’s death in the Twins 2 cabin, where five campers died, “unnecessary” and “preventable,” noting that her “decomposed and disfigured” body was recovered more than 8 miles downriver and had to be identified using DNA.

At the conclusion of the hearing Wednesday, the judge said she would add language to her order to say that Camp Mystic operated “in a high-risk zone without adequate flood protections” and that it lacked emergency plans and training required under Texas code.

The camp’s owners, the Eastland family, testified this week that they did all they could to save the girls when faced with unprecedented flooding last July. Edward Eastland, a camp director whose father, Dick, 70, died in the flood, said they hope to reopen in six weeks. More than 850 campers have registered to attend, and some 600 of them have paid deposits. But the camp cannot reopen until its license has been renewed.

“Do you believe that the children who were campers were under your oversight?” Brad Beckworth, the Stewards’ attorney, asked Eastland on Monday, the first day of the hearing.

Yes, Eastland testified, adding, “I did act reasonably.”

“Do you believe you neglected them?” Beckworth said.

No, Eastland said.

Parents of campers who died in the flood disagree, their attorney said.

“Twenty-seven children died under Camp Mystic’s care. The evidence is undeniable, revealing utter complacency and the complete absence of necessary planning and safeguards before, during and after the flood,” said Kyle Findley, a Houston attorney representing the families.

“Renewing this license before investigations have even concluded would send a dangerous message that even the most catastrophic breakdowns carry no consequences,” Findley said.

Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, declined to comment on the substance of the six letters.

Anton said that DSHS has received more than 600 messages about Camp Mystic from members of the public and that “most include complaints/allegations, and some just indicate that they are for or against Camp Mystic’s license being renewed.”

She said the agency was investigating complaints that fall under its authority and sharing information with the state Department of Public Safety.

Last Tuesday, the agency sent Edward Eastland’s mother, Camp Mystic owner Tweety Eastland, a letter saying agency staffers were reviewing the camp’s license application and documentation, including its emergency plan, “for completeness and any deficiencies.”

The letter noted that DSHS “has received hundreds of complaints related to Camp Mystic’s care of campers during the 2025 camp season. DSHS is currently investigating these complaints”; and that the Texas legislature had convened an investigating committee on the July 4 flood in part to “examine the contributing factors to the devastation at Camp Mystic” that is expected to conclude its investigation in coming weeks, with a hearing and report by early summer.

“DSHS will consider any findings from the inspection and investigation when making the determination on your renewal application. DSHS also expects to similarly review findings of the Investigating Committee,” the letter said.

The same day the agency sent that letter, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote to DSHS Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, urging the agency to deny the camp’s license given that a “criminal investigation” by the Texas Rangers was underway.