Director of Camp Mystic says he slept through warning of deadly Texas floods The director of the Texas summer camp where 27 campers and counselors were killed by a devastating flood last year testified Monday that he did not see official warnings issued the day before the storm hit and that staff had no meetings about the pending danger. Edward Eastland, the camp’s director, provided the most detailed account yet of how the camp responded as floodwaters along the Guadalupe River rose to historic levels, trapping children and counselors in cabins before they were swept away on July 4, 2025. Eastland’s testimony, delivered in a packed courtroom filled with families of the victims, included emotional moments as he acknowledged the tragedy and the potential for lives to have been saved if staff had acted sooner. The flood, which killed 25 girls aged eight to 10, two teenage counselors, and Richard Eastland, the camp’s co-owner, left a trail of devastation across central Texas. The National Weather Service had issued alerts days before the storm, warning of heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in rivers, creeks, and low-lying areas—features of the Camp Mystic property. Despite these warnings, Eastland claimed he did not see flood watch notifications from the National Weather Service or the Texas Department of Emergency Management on July 2 and 3. He relied instead on the CodeRED mobile alert system and weather apps, which he believed were sufficient. Eastland admitted the camp had no detailed written flood evacuation plan and that more campers could have survived if he and his father, Richard Eastland, along with the camp’s safety director, had made quicker decisions to evacuate.#national_weather_service #camp_mystic #director_edward_eastland #texas_department_of_emergency_management #code_red
