Camp Mystic families sue Texas officials after deadly 2025 flood
Source: USA Today
Feb. 23, 2026 Updated Feb. 24, 2026, 11:46 a.m. ET
Families of nine campers and counselors at Camp Mystic who died after destructive flooding swept across Central Texas in 2025 are suing health officials, claiming they failed to enforce an evacuation plan required by state law.
The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 23, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, accuses Texas Department of State Health Services, or DSHS, officials of deliberately failing to follow state law and depriving the victims of their "constitutional rights to life and bodily integrity." The families are seeking general and compensatory damages and all other relief that is equitable."
The suit was filed against six DSHS officials, including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, Timothy H. Stevenson, Jeffrey Adam Buuck, Annabelle Dillard, Lindsey Eudey, and Maricela Torres Zamarripa. The officials were involved in overseeing and inspecting Texas youth camps.
The lawsuit alleges that DSHS had licensed Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp at the edge of the Guadalupe River, despite the camp not having an evacuation plan as required by the state and camp safety rules. According to the suit, youth camps are mandated to have written emergency plans posted in each cabin.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/23/camp-mystic-families-lawsuit-texas-health-officials/88833914007/
Link to SUIT (PDF viewer) - https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/newspack_iframes/Camp+Mystic+Families+DSHS-XFeYFvvn.pdf
Faux pas
(16,258 posts)ananda
(34,693 posts)Hmmmm
I'm very sorry for these families' losses, but I can't help but wonder how they felt about government regulation before this.
ananda
(34,693 posts)I read in an article that they were totally anti-government... until...
BTW, a person I know surprised me by going full Magat. When
I last met with him last July, he said Biden had cognitive
impairment. The man also said he was anti-government.
I then said: you should move to Idaho. He said no, too cold.
Then I said: you should move to Kerrville.
After that, he shut up and went silent.
twodogsbarking
(18,228 posts)Or I'll sue.
TexasBushwhacker
(21,156 posts)They should sue the family that has owned the camp for generations, as well as those county officials who voted AGAINST installing modern warning systems, including sirens. These enhanced systems would have been paid for by grants from the BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. The money was there. All they had to do was apply for it.
It was in goddamn "Flood Alley" for Pete's sake! It wasn't a matter of if it would flood but WHEN! Surrounding counties have upgraded their warning systems. But this one STUPID county decided to kick the can down the road and pray that THEIR OWN RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS didn't pay the ultimate price. I'm not religious, but if there's a hell, I hope they all go there.