FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion: Report
KERR COUNTY, TEXAS, JUL 12 – FEMA approved appeals that removed 30 Camp Mystic buildings from flood hazard maps before a deadly 2025 flood killed 27 campers and staff at the Texas summer camp.
- Camp Mystic in Kerr County lost at least 27 campers, counselors, and owner Dick Eastland in historic floodwaters before dawn on July 4, 2025.
- The camp was located in a known flood-prone area called flash flood alley and repeatedly sought and received FEMA map amendments removing dozens of buildings from the 100-year flood hazard zone since 2011.
- These amendments lessened regulatory oversight and allowed the camp's operation and expansion, including opening a second site in 2020, despite expert warnings about underestimated flood risks.
- Experts including Syracuse University professor Sarah Pralle called it "particularly disturbing" that such a camp received exemptions, and data science expert Jeremy Porter said FEMA's flood maps underestimate risk.
- The tragic flood highlights the limits of FEMA's process, which officials say is arduous but necessary, and stresses the need for stricter regulations and cautious expansion in high-risk flood areas.
228 Articles
228 Articles
FEMA Allowed Camp Mystic to Operate in 100-Year Flood Zone Despite Decades of Deadly Warnings, Records Show
FEMA approved requests to lift flood restrictions on Camp Mystic buildings for years, enabling expansion in a known hazard zone before the July 4 flash floods killed at least 27 people.
FEMA Granted Multiple Flood Map Exemptions For Camp Mystic
Anyone who knows me will tell you I've been screaming about the political manipulation of flood maps for decades. What just happened in Texas was a tragic example. FEMA regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map and loosened oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain. Via the Associated Press: The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious gi…
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