Kerr County youth camps appeal to Dan Patrick on proposed floodplain restrictions

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The owners of three Kerr County youth camps have asked Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to reconsider some of the stricter new flood safety requirements contained in two bills before the Texas Legislature that have been filed as a result of the tragic July 4 Guadalupe River flooding that killed 27 Camp Mystic campers.

Two camp safety bills, House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, would withhold state licensing if cabins are located in a floodplain. A week ago, both bills were passed by their respective home chambers.

Late Friday, The Texas Tribune obtained an Aug. 28 letter sent to Patrick by the owners of Camp Waldemar, Vista Camps and Camp Stewart. In it, the camp owners cite the cost of rebuilding cabins and ask Patrick to “work with us” by having an expert to propose “a safe and professionally analyzed solution through the Texas Water Development Board for the 100-year floodplain prohibition.”

The camp owners also insisted that there “must be meaningful financial support, whether through insurance, state grants, or other funding mechanisms, so that the burden does not fall solely on families, camps, and communities.”

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flood and the primary author of one of the bills, told the Tribune last week there would be no state assistance for camps to comply with pending legislation if it passes.

“No, camps are private enterprises,” Perry told The Texas Tribune after family members of the 27 Camp Mystic flood victims testified before his committee on Aug. 20. “The state’s not rebuilding private sector camps.”

The Texas Tribune reached out to Patrick’s office for comment on the letter, which was also forwarded to members of the Texas Senate and Gov. Greg. Abbott, and did not get an immediate response. The Tribune left phone messages at all three camps, asking for more detail and comment on the letter, but none were returned. The Tribune reached Meg Clark, executive director of Camp Waldemar late Friday. She confirmed the contents of the letter but declined to offer additional comment.

The two special legislative committees appointed after the July 4 disaster so far in public hearings have resisted discussing restricting development in floodplains statewide. Requiring camps to move cabins out of the floodplain was the biggest step they had taken in that direction — and is a major piece of the legislation. Flooding experts say getting kids out of risky areas as they sleep is a clear way to help protect them.

Originally, legislators had planned just to require that camps evacuate kids from campgrounds in the floodplain if the weather service issued a flash flood warning and to install ladders on cabins so campers could climb onto rooftops if the situation grew dire and for some reason they hadn't evacuated. But parents of the kids who died at Camp Mystic pushed to get more restrictive, camp-focused legislation on the table.

“The combination of devastating floods and the heavy financial burden proposed under new state regulations presents an impossible challenge,” the camps’ letter stated. “Collectively, our camps would face millions of dollars in mandated rebuilding costs for cabins subjected to the prohibition that did not sustain damage by recent flooding. These additional burdens would come on top of already significant flood repairs, operational expenses, and existing loans.”

A representative for the Camp Mystic families’ campaign for camp safety said, “We believe the parents’ testimonies and recent media interviews speak for themselves. We have no comment about this letter, but we support lawmakers’ efforts to pass SB1 and HB1 to ensure common sense safety reforms are in place for the 2026 summer camp season.”

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