Texas legislators investigating July 4 floods to hold first hearings
By Emily Foxhall, The Texas Tribune
April 27, 2026
Texas legislators plan to meet Monday and Tuesday to hear testimony about last year’s catastrophic Fourth of July floods, which killed more than 100 people when heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to surge through homes, RV parks and youth camps in the middle of the night.
The two-day hearing marks the first public session for the joint House and Senate flood investigating committees. It comes as public scrutiny has centered in recent weeks on Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and the camp director died.
Earlier this month in an Austin courtroom, members of the Eastland family that owns and runs the camp testified about what happened in those horrific hours as the disaster unfolded and they couldn’t get girls out of flooding cabins fast enough. They answered questions as part of a suit filed by the parents of an 8-year-old camper whose body has not been found. The Eastlands face multiple other lawsuits from other parents of children who died.
Legislators from the two committees visited the camp days after the court hearings, as community members gathered along the highway that winds along the river, holding signs calling for the politicians to remember the other people who died in the flood — which included families on vacation at second homes and RV parks and those who lived in Kerr County full time.
The Senate resolution that created the special investigating committee called for “a complete and thorough examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding the flooding” and the House resolution called for a similarly broad investigation.
Still, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows focused on Camp Mystic in written statements when they announced the 10 joint committee members.
Seeing the Camp Mystic property, state Sen. José Menéndez said he thought about the fear and despair the campers must have felt. The San Antonio Democrat expected the committees to revisit the state rules for licensing camps.
“On Monday and Tuesday, when the whole state gets a very detailed description of what happened that night, I think people will be able to fill in some of the gaps that they had,“ Menéndez said. “Hopefully we can also identify those areas where, as a state and as a camp and as citizens, maybe we can see the areas for improvement, areas where we could have done better.”
Texas legislators passed measures last year after the flood to implement new safety rules for youth camps and to require vulnerable areas in the Hill Country to install flood warning sirens, which experts say could help but are not a failsafe solution.
Lawmakers required camps to craft more robust emergency plans to meet state licensing requirements. Last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services sent a letter informing Camp Mystic that its plan was deficient in 22 categories and giving the camp 45 days to correct the issues. Other camps received similar letters about their plans, an agency spokesperson said.
Camp Mystic is planning to welcome campers back this summer to a portion of its property that is separate from where the girls died. Patrick, though, has repeatedly called on the state to deny the camp’s operating license.
The Texas Department of State Health Services, which reviews license applications, and the Texas Rangers are also looking into complaints filed about the care of kids at the camp. A lawyer for Camp Mystic has said the state has no regulatory basis to deny their application and that they are glad for the Rangers to be involved.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the Texas Rangers visited Camp Mystic on Thursday.
Ayden Runnels contributed reporting.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.