First the rain, then the flood: How Camp Mystic campers woke to devastation on July 4

ByMatt Gutman and Kevin Shalvey ABCNews logo
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
How Camp Mystic campers woke to devastation
More than 170 people are believed to be missing in Texas four days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday.

The thunder and lighting came to Camp Mystic first, but that was normal.

The storm and the driving rain at the Texas camp woke up some of the campers, including Georgia and Eloise Jones, at about 1 a.m. on July 4.

Georgia and Eloise Jones, who were at Camp Mystic, in the Texas Hill Country, on July 4, 2025, talk with ABC News about the morning the devastating floods began.
Georgia and Eloise Jones, who were at Camp Mystic, in the Texas Hill Country, on July 4, 2025, talk with ABC News about the morning the devastating floods began.
ABC News

At first the pair thought nothing of it, they told ABC News. After all, it had been raining on and off for days.

"I mean, it rains a lot there, so we thought it was just normal," Georgia said."

TEXAS FLOOD: Timeline of how rapidly rising waters killed dozens

But within an hour or so, the girls knew something was wrong, they said, when campers from another cabin showed up at their door, saying theirs had been flooded.

"That's when we realized something was wrong," Georgia said. "And our cabins are high up, and for them to be flooding, it's like, you know, something's wrong."

Hours later, at about 7 a.m., when they stepped out of their cabin, the sisters could see what they described as the "complete destruction" of some of the camp.

TEXAS FLOOD: From campers to parents, what we know about the lives lost

"And then we realized like we can't stay here, you know," Georgia said.

The flood claimed at least 27 lives at Mystic, according to local and camp officials.

Two days prior to the floods, the Texas Department of State Health Services signed off on the youth camp's emergency plans, according to records obtained by ABC News. The details of Camp Mystic's emergency plans were not included in the records released by the state.

The youth camp had 557 campers and 108 staffers between its Guadalupe and Cypress Lake locations at the time of the inspection.

TEXAS FLOOD: How to help following deadly flash flooding in central Texas

ABC News' Laura Romero contributed to this report.

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