What happened at Camp Mystic

2025-07-17

Since the devastating flooding over the Fourth of July weekend in Texas, Washington Post journalists have been piecing together what went wrong at Camp Mystic. The floods were especially deadly for the camp, and our colleagues found that many of the things that made the Christian girls camp beloved for generations also made it vulnerable. The camp sits at the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek. Many of its cabins were built in high-risk flood zones. In 2013, the Federal...

Since the devastating flooding over the Fourth of July weekend in Texas, Washington Post journalists have been piecing together what went wrong at Camp Mystic.

The floods were especially deadly for the camp, and our colleagues found that many of the things that made the Christian girls camp beloved for generations also made it vulnerable.

The camp sits at the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek. Many of its cabins were built in high-risk flood zones. In 2013, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved appeals from Camp Mystic to exempt several structures from a flood zone designation, according to federal records.

Today on “Post Reports,” correspondent Annie Gowen talks us through what we know about what happened at Camp Mystic.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Maggie Penman.