AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 A Texas judge on Wednesday ordered Camp Mystic to preserve damaged cabins and other parts of the grounds hit by last year\u2019s catastrophic floods that swept away and killed 25 girls and two counselors.<\/p>\n
The order follows a lawsuit by the family of 8-year-old Cile Steward, who was swept away in the flood last Fourth of July and whose body still has not been recovered. District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ordered Camp Mystic to halt any construction or alterations after the family argued that any changes at the camp could destroy evidence needed for their lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Gamble ruled that Camp Mystic\u2019s owners must not alter or demolish the cabins where campers were housed during the floods, and said they must not use the portion of the camp closest to the Guadalupe River where those cabins were located.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is preserve the evidence that\u2019s there so that we can understand, so that future campers will never be put in a situation like this again,” Will Steward, Cile’s father, told reporters after the hearing.<\/p>\n
The campers and counselors were killed<\/a> when the fast-rising floodwaters roared through a low-lying area of the summer camp before dawn on the Fourth of July. All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people, raising questions<\/a> about how things went so terribly wrong.<\/p>\n The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst thing you can do is put a bunch of 8-year-olds on a bus and try to drive them out of there. They all would have drowned,\u201d said Mikal Watts, an attorney for Camp Mystic and its family of owners.<\/p>\n In a packed courtroom Wednesday, family members of the deceased girls wore buttons depicting their images as lawyers for Camp Mystic displayed pictures of trees planted in their memory and architectural renderings of plans to rebuild parts of the camp outside a 1,000-year flood zone.<\/p>\n Attorneys for Camp Mystic have expressed sympathy for the girls\u2019 families but maintained there was little they could have done during the catastrophic flooding that quickly overcame the camp. Pictures of the rising floodwaters were shown in court Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody had every seen a prior flood anything like we saw in 2025,\u201d Watts said.<\/p>\n More than 850 campers have already signed up to attend camp this summer, he said. The camp still needs to be approved for a license by state regulators to operate this summer.<\/p>\n \n Sign up for our Daily Headlines newsletter \u2014 delivered to your inbox every morning at 7 a.m.\n <\/p>\n Thanks! You\u2019re all set.<\/p>\n Watch your inbox for Daily Headlines.<\/p>\n Edward Eastland, the son of camp owner Richard Eastland, who died in the flooding, testified Wednesday that his mother, his wife and their children as well as another staff member were at a camp house when \u201cthe double doors of the house broke open\u201d from floodwaters. They had to break out a separate window to climb out and evacuate to higher ground. All survived.<\/p>\n The camp had security cameras around the campus, Eastland said, but no one was watching the live feed in the middle of the night as the waters rose. When he tried to pull it up about 3 a.m., he wasn\u2019t able to.<\/p>\n And when pressed about the camp’s flood plans, Eastland said he didn’t know if there was anything more detailed than a one-paragraph slide shown in the hearing. Will and Cici Steward said they don’t believe the camp has adequate safety measures in place to welcome new campers while they still search for their daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn’t have a plan, and they don’t have a plan moving forward,\u201d Cici Steward said.<\/p>\n The camp\u2019s decision last year to partially open and to construct a memorial on the grounds drew outrage<\/a> from many of the girls’ families who are mourning their loved ones and who said they weren\u2019t consulted on the plans.<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked Texas regulators not to renew the license<\/a> for Camp Mystic while the deaths are being investigated and cited legislative probes that are expected to begin in the spring.<\/p>\n