Judge orders Camp Mystic to preserve damaged grounds hit by deadly flood

Описание: (5 Mar 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Austin, Texas - 4 March 2026
1. Various of victims' families outside of the courtroom
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mikal Watts, attorney for Camp Mystic:
“The bottom line is that she did the right thing. She agreed that the evidence at the Guadalupe River should be preserved, just like we offered to. She did not order, despite this lawyer’s spin of what just happened, that we could not open camp. In fact, part of what we’re doing is working tonight on the structural separation to keep kids away from Guadalupe River while they are attending camp this summer up at Cypress Lake.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Hunt, Texas - 9 July 2025
3. Various of camper’s belongings on ground

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Austin, Texas - 4 March 2026
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mikal Watts, attorney for Camp Mystic:
“And Camp Mystic looks forward to working with the state, with the court to do everything in their power to make certain that we continue to have camp for generations with all the corollary benefits that that brings. But that we take the lessons of this very painful event and ensure collectively as Texans that this never happens again.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Hunt, Texas - 9 July 2025
5. Sign on bank of river reading (English): “Jesus Wept”
6. Rescue workers and dogs looking for survivors

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Austin, Texas - 4 March 2026
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Brad Beckworth, family attorney:
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out exactly what happened here. But it was very clear for everyone there today that there were gross, gross errors that caused the deaths of Cile and her friend.”
8. Various of victims' families outside of the courtroom
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Will Steward, father or missing girl:
“For today, it was important to know that the judge understood and the court understood that what we’re trying to do is preserve the evidence. It’s there so we can understand. So future campers will never be put in a situation like this again. We have to understand what happened, and no one’s told us.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Hunt, Texas - 9 July 2025
10. Rescue workers and dogs looking for survivors

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Austin, Texas - 4 March 2026
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Cici Steward, mother of missing girl:
“They got lucky that it was only 27 girls, but luck shouldn’t be the standard. And today they exemplified again profitability over people by not having a plan in place. You would think that would be the first thing that they would expect coming into a hearing like this.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Hunt, Texas - 9 July 2025
12. Rescue workers looking for survivors
STORYLINE:
A Texas judge on Wednesday ordered Camp Mystic to preserve damaged cabins and other parts of the grounds hit by last year’s catastrophic floods that swept away and killed 25 girls and two counselors.

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.

Gamble ruled that Camp Mystic’s 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.



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.

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