Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on Wednesday, nearly a year after catastrophic floods killed 25 girls, two teenage counselors, and the director at the all-girls Christian camp in Texas.
In paperwork filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston, the camp listed its debt as exceeding $10 million. The camp said it has assets in the range of $100,001 to $500,000.
CBS News Texas reviewed the filing, which shows the limited liability corporation behind the camp has not filed prior bankruptcy cases in the last eight years. The filing indicates funds will be available to distribute to between 1,000 and 5,000 unsecured creditors.
Edward S. Eastland, a member of the family that owns the camp, was listed as the authorized representative of the camp in the filing. The corporation behind the camp is represented by a Dallas attorney.
A total of four companies are listed as affiliated entities in the filing:
- Camp Mystic, LLC
- Natural Fountains Properties, Inc.
- Mystic Camps Family Partnership, Ltd.
- Mystic Camps Management, LLC
CBS News Texas has reached out to Camp Mystic for further comment.
Missteps discovered during investigation
The bankruptcy filing comes days after a new investigative report into the failed evacuation of Camp Mystic during the deadly July 2025 floods identified a series of missteps that led to the deaths at the camp. Investigators told a joint Texas House and Senate committee they reached four conclusions in their exhaustive review of what contributed to the deaths of 28 people, including the camp's director.
Among the findings, investigators said Camp Mystic lacked written emergency plans that complied with state requirements. They also found the camp did not adequately prepare for the storm and did not evacuate in a timely manner despite having ample opportunities.
Investigators further concluded that reunification efforts and incident management were chaotic and had traumatic effects on families.
In total, 27 girls, including two camp counselors, and camp director Dick Eastland died at Camp Mystic when water from the Guadalupe River surged on July 4, 2025, sweeping through the camp on the riverbank.
In April, Texas lawmakers sharply criticized the camp's operators, blasting their evacuation planning ahead of the storm.
Camp Mystic withdrew its application for a summer 2026 camp license after that first public hearing.
Further developments after the flood
Mary Elizabeth Eastland, the camp's chief health officer, saw her nursing license temporarily suspended. A week later, the Texas Board of Nursing said she could practice with a limited license.
According to an agreed order approved May 19, the board found Eastland failed to ensure the camp's emergency nursing manual included adequate emergency planning procedures, failed to contact 911 after campers and staff were reported missing and failed to report the deaths to state authorities within the required 24-hour timeframe. According to the order, this created an unsafe environment that likely contributed to physical, emotional and psychological harm as well as loss of life.
The order also alleges Eastland allowed camp nurses to administer medications under inadequate standing orders between March and July 2025.
Eastland, a registered nurse since 2008 and Camp Mystic's chief health officer for 16 years, neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed to disciplinary action.
After the tragedy at Camp Mystic on July 4th, when 25 campers and two counselors were swept away in deadly floods, state lawmakers approved a new law with various requirements for summer camps to prevent this from happening again. That included the installation of a fiber-optic internet connection. But State Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, told CBS News Texas that the law has caused obstacles for the camps.
"Only nine out of, I think maybe 300 camps have been approved for a license for this coming summer because of the new legislation," Virdell said. "The legislation is going to cost camps millions of dollars when there are other alternatives that work just as well."
Virdell said the main issue for camps is the requirement that they install a fiber optic connection to the internet, which is expensive. One of the authors of the legislation, State Sen.Charles Perry, R- Lubbock, told CBS News Texas that camps have complained to him about the cost and availability of materials and labor.
Perry said that last October, he and Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, wrote to the Department of State Health Services, which oversees licensing for the camps, asking the agency to delay the requirement. Some camps filed suit against the state to block the requirement. Perry said he hopes the judge will agree to do that.
"This needs to get fixed," he said. "Of all the regulations and things we did, I think this is the only one that's causing consternation, causing a challenge to both the department and the camps."
Earlier this year, nine Camp Mystic families sued Texas officials, claiming the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) violated their daughters' "constitutional rights to life and bodily integrity." According to the lawsuit, DSHS licensed Camp Mystic despite its failure to comply with state law requiring youth camps to maintain a written and posted evacuation plan for each building. They allege the camp's emergency instructions directed campers to remain in their cabins during a flood, including in cabins that were located in designated flood zones along the Guadalupe River.
The agency inspected and licensed the nearly 100-year-old camp two days before the flood that killed 27 campers and counselors, the lawsuit states.
The suit alleges that while officials inspected the camp annually, they knowingly licensed the camp despite the absence of a legally required evacuation plan.
This is a developing story. CBS News Texas will update this article regularly.
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