These are the new bills meant to prevent another Camp Mystic tragedy
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Families of Camp Mystic flooding victims react to testimony in a Texas Senate committee last month. Photo: Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images
State lawmakers have moved to strengthen emergency response to natural disasters and at youth camps two months after the deadly July Fourth flooding.
The big picture: After two divisive special sessions, one in which Democrats left the state over redistricting, most of the flood safety measures passed with bipartisan support.
Context: At least 27 campers and counselors from the all-girls Camp Mystic died in the floods, which killed about 135 people statewide, most in Kerr County.
The latest: Gov. Greg Abbott signed two of the bills on Friday.
- House Bill 1 requires residential youth camps to develop and submit to the state written emergency plans that detail how to evacuate, starting May 1, 2026.
- It also requires camps to designate an emergency preparedness supervisor and to instruct campers on emergency procedures.
Senate Bill 1 prohibits the state from licensing youth camps that operate one or more cabins in a 100-year floodplain, with few exceptions. The state will keep an updated list of licensed youth camps online and require camps to visibly post evacuation routes in each cabin.
- Family members of children killed in the July Fourth floods testified in favor of the bill.
- "The measures in this bill, keeping cabins out of flood plains, requiring real emergency plans … should already be the baseline for every summer camp," said Michael McCown, who lost his daughter Linnie at Camp Mystic, per KSAT.
- But representatives of several camps in Kerr County spoke against the requirement to keep cabins out of 100-year floodplains, citing a heavy financial burden, KSAT reported.
The following bills are also headed to Abbott's desk.
Senate Bill 3 requires the state to identify flash flood-prone areas in the Hill Country and for the local government to install outdoor warning sirens. It creates a grant program to help with costs.
Senate Bill 5 sets aside funding for the state to be better prepared for disasters. Specifically, it includes:
- $240 million from Texas' Rainy Day Fund to match federal money.
- $50 million to help Central Texas governments make grants for flood warning sirens and rain gauges.
- $28 million to improve forecasting.
House Bill 20 requires the secretary of state to oversee a program that designates a reputable nonprofit to accept donations during a declared disaster. It also sets new criminal penalties for disaster-related scams.
Yes, but: Senate Bill 2, which would have required education for certain local officials on managing mass fatality events, did not pass.
What they're saying: "Every child who goes to camp should come home to their families," Abbott said on Friday.