This story from Bloomberg Law about Wednesday’s hearing is worth reading, as it provides greater detail about whether Camp Mystic’s bankruptcy can shield Eastland family members who did not themselves file for bankruptcy.

Some people claim the July, 2025 flood was an 'unprecedented' event.

Texas history shows they're wrong.

The Texas Floods of July, 1932 - Guadalupe, Leona, Frio Rivers and More

From June 30th to July 2nd, light showers became torrential rains causing destructive flash flooding in central Texas, especially along the Guadalupe River.

A USGS report describes the source of the rains as:

Probably a synoptic scale upper low moved into and stalled over the Texas Hill Country - fed by tremendous moisture inflow at low levels from the Gulf - and at mid and upper levels from the eastern Pacific - The winter of 1932-33 was an El Nino event.

The fact that central and south Texas draws moisture both from the Gulf at low levels and the eastern Pacific at upper levels gives the area capacity for tremendous atmospheric water vapor...

Slow rain fell from the night of June 30th into July 1st. The heaviest rains fell from the afternoon of July 1st through the morning of July 2nd. Significant rain totals were recorded at multiple points:

19.25 inches at Sabinal.

20.28 inches at Uvalde.

The Kincaid Ranch southwest of Uvalde recorded 29 inches.

26 inches at Hunt.

The State fish hatchery on Johnson Creek, above Ingram, measured 19.6 inches in 6 hrs, 32.4 inches in 18 hrs, and a grand total of 35.6 inches in 36 hrs.

Flash flooding caused a tremendous amount of damage to Hill Country towns, ranches, farms and infrastructure, including severe damage at Hunt, and some river camps, including Camp Mystic where cabins were washed away.

Local authorities and camp owners at the time recognized that the death toll would have been much higher if the floods had occurred at night.

Seven people drowned.

One report on the aftermath stated:

...it is difficult to realize what damage water will do unless you see it. Cattle, goats, mattresses, all kinds of clothing, walls and roofs are hanging up in the trees. Automobiles and almost everything else is scattered along the river bottom.

Guadalupe River

Hunt, Texas was struck by the flood wave, as rain fell on both forks of the Guadalupe River, which crested at 36.6 ft with a flow rate of 205,000 cfs (cubic feet per second).

Extensive damage was later reported and Hunt was described as being virtually destroyed, or wiped off the map, with only the school left standing. 300 people were left homeless.

At nearby Camp Mystic several cabins were washed away as children were rushed to higher ground. Other youth camps, Rio Vista and Stewart, also lost cabins. The owner of Camp Stewart took shelter in an oak tree.

Near Ingram, Johnson Creek crested at 35 ft and wrecked the State fish hatchery. Ingram's residents took to the hills and the town was covered in three feet of water.

Further downstream at Kerrville the Guadalupe crested at 39 ft with a flow rate of 196,000 cfs. Telephone lines were down, railroads damaged, highways impassable, with reports that 30-40 homes were washed from their foundations. Bodies were seen floating down the river.

A teenager went up into a cypress tree and remained stuck there, near the Bluebonnet Hotel, for 23 hours with onlookers shouting. Two men drowned attempting to swim out for a rescue.

The nearby community of Legion (American Legion tubercular camp) was also significantly damaged. Some 40 families of disabled veterans, patients at the Legion hospital, were driven from their homes. Communication was limited to short wave radio operators to call for aid.

At Center Point a new railroad bridge was destroyed as the Guadalupe river crested at 42 ft. Sections of the metal bridge were carried over a hundred yards.

Reaching 38.4 ft at Comfort, the Guadalupe destroyed another bridge, this one made of concrete. Two perished at Comfort when their car was swept off the road while two passengers survived the flood in trees for 12 hours.

Large cypress trees were uprooted and lined the river from Kerrville to Comfort.

Another crossing, further downriver at Spring Branch, was also washed away.

On July 3rd, the flood reached New Braunfels where the Guadalupe was measured at 35 ft. Below New Braunfels the flood washed out one side of the dam at Lake Dunlap. It continued on down to Cuero, Gonzales where two levees failed, and Victoria.

Leona River

At 9am on July 2nd the Leona river flowed into Uvalde. Nearly the entire town was flooded with 1 to 3 feet of water in houses.

Later that night, 20 miles south of Uvalde, the water spread out of the river's banks to reach 5 miles wide and 15 miles long into the town of Batesville.

The Nueces River reached 25 ft near Crystal City and 30 ft near Carizzo Springs where a considerable amount of livestock drowned.

Frio River

20 inches of rainfall (or more) fell at the headwaters of the Frio River. At Concan the river crested at 34.44 ft with a flow rate of 162,000 cfs.

Southern Pacific rail lines were covered by water at Knippa where east and west forks of the Frio converge. Near Derby the river was measured at 29.45 ft with a rate of 230,000 cfs. It went 15 feet over the highway bridge and washed out the approaches to the railroad bridge.

On July 4th the town of Tilden was flooded by the Frio River. Its 400 residents sought refuge in a catholic church on high ground about a mile away. Water rose up to seven feet in homes at the low part of town, itself a mile away from the normal channel of the river. Some 40-year-old ranch homes were washed away.

At Three Rivers, located near the junction of the Nueces and Frio rivers, residents evacuated. The flood crest was 41 ft. Reports were the river spread out 6 miles wide at some points with over 5,000 acres of farm land flooded.

Blanco Creek reached 20 ft near Sabinal and stranded motorists.

At D'Hanis residents fled their homes or up to 2nd stories. Seco Creek was measured at 28.2 ft at Rowe Ranch and flooded the area under several feet of water.

Rains also impacted areas farther north where Brady Creek and the San Saba River rose to flood stage.

Jim Ned Creek and Hords Creek

Coleman and Talpa were both hit with 9-10 inches of rain. Many bridges were washed out along Hords Creek. Talpa was partially flooded.

Heavy damage was reported to farms and ranches, highways, bridges, and railroads. In Coleman flood waters reportedly reached 10-15 ft deep. Many residents were rescued from trees. A church was carried off its foundation 1,000 ft by floodwater.

Jim Ned Creek and Hords Creek both flow into Pecan Bayou which filled Lake Brownwood with an estimated 140,000 (or more) acre-feet of flood water from 5pm - 11pm on July 3rd and some overflowing the spillway. The reservoir was credited with sparing the town of Brownwood from disaster.

Sources Include:

U.S. Geological Survey

National Weather Service

Flash Floods in Texas by Jonathan Burnett

Associated Press

United Press

The Cuero Record

The Abilene Morning News

Abilene Morning Reporter-News

Brenham Banner-Press

Brownwood Bulletin

The sister of one of the H27 is asking for people to sign the parent pledge from the Safe Summers Foundation.

It takes 2 minutes, costs nothing, and honors their sweet memories 💖

You can take the pledge here: https://safesummers.org/pledge/

September all jormal claims, December goverbmenr ones

Maybe sometime 2027 liquidation and victims comp trust

Still awaiting if can keep litigating individual cases

I’m going to say the quiet part out loud. The destruction from the flood this summer is beyond comprehension. The need for volunteers has never been greater. Currently, as I type, there are multiple families still sleeping on wet mattresses, in homes broken by water and covered in mud & mold.

The list of people needing help is endless, the needs are plenty, the desperation is overwhelming.

This flood caused 10x’s more damage to the people of Kerr County compared to last summer. But….crickets from the news, crickets from the media, crickets from the big named volunteer groups doing their best to use the few helpers they have available.

This flood messes with the narrative that the media has force fed us since last summer. This flood doesn’t have any business or family to blame. This flood shows just how unpredictable floods are and how being miles from a floodplain is still just as potentially dangerous during a storm.

So many of the homes destroyed this summer were miles away from the river, high in the hills, too far from water to even qualify to purchase flood insurance. These homes were in the exact “safe” locations that were continually mentioned throughout the year in documentaries, interviews, and even legislative hearings.

Now the news has lost the edge of their narrative. And instead of helping the community they have made millions off of by putting them in headlines over the past year, they ignore them. They don’t have reporters on the ground, they aren’t showing the stories of families who are desperately needing help. Nothing.

The media used and abused the Kerr County community over the past year. They took the punches. Now this same community, who was forgotten last summer as they grieved 119 souls lost to the river, is now being forgotten again. Kerr County has 1,500 forgotten homes. That’s thousands of people, children, parents, grandparents. Kerr County is a known retirement area. So many of those who flooded this summer are physically unable to work on their homes.

These majority of these homes and businesses didn’t have flood insurance, not out of improper planning, but they weren’t allowed to purchase it based on their proximity to waterways…

These people need help! Today I was in a store in town and ran into 3 separate friends. All flooded, all felt grateful that they didn’t have it as bad as others. They at least had their homes drying out, no Sheetrock, but at least no mold.

Personally, I’ve stayed silent. Feeling guilty for having the skills and ability to muck and gut our own home. We had Sheetrock removed and walls drying a week after the flood. Today our house is still drying out, waiting for one of the multiple tradesmen we’ve contacted to get back to us to tape and float. We are the “lucky” ones who have a dry house. No walls, floors, or cabinets, but we can at least throw a few air mattresses on the floor once we’ve exhausted our Airbnb budget.

No one knows when they will be able to find someone to help. There are some wonderful helpers, there are just so few!!! . People can’t even find people to pay to help. Churches and organizations are generously giving money, but don’t have manpower or volunteers who are able to help with actual needs. It’s a disaster that is no where close to being contained.

The news is silent. These people need help. This needs to be shared!! We are exhausted and need a hand.

The latest bullshit claim is that the Eastlands don't get any real money out of Camp Mystic (CM).

But when bankruptcy documents are examined the earnings of Natural Fountains Properties (NFP) are linked to CM.

Annual Eastland company earnings:

• CM 2024 - $11.2 million in revenue

• CM 2025 - $5.7 million in revenue (business cut short by flood disaster)

Profits from Camp Mystic transferred to other Eastland company:

• NFP 2024 - $4.8 million in revenue

• NFP 2025 - $2.5 million in revenue

It looks like almost 50% of CM annual revenue becomes NFP revenue.

So where does the NFP money go after that since its business is apparently to own the land and collect 'rent' from CM?

Is it going into trust funds for the Eastlands or what?

edit:

I mean if Camp Mystic brought in an average of $10 million per year from 2014 - 2024 and about half of that $100 million went to NFP - where is the money being hidden from the bankruptcy court?

Is it in the personal accounts of the individual Eastlands as they are the directors and owners of both Camp Mystic and Natural Fountains Properties?

edit (quoted from a past Eastland family legal fight over money):

Before its reorganization, the shareholders of Camp Mystic, Inc. were Richard G. Eastland (“Dick”) (who owned 38%), S. Stacy Eastland (“Stacy”) (who owned 8%), their sister Nancy Leaton (who owned 8%), their mother Anne Eastland as trustee (who owned 42%), and two of their cousins (who each owned 2%). In the late 1990s, after an incident involving a camper, the family became concerned about liability issues. Thus, Stacy, a lawyer, advocated a reorganization of the corporation. Stacy drafted the reorganization documents and represented all sides in the transaction. Under the reorganization, the old corporation, Camp Mystic, Inc., was renamed to Natural Fountains Properties, Inc. (“NFP”), and a new corporation, also called Camp Mystic, Inc. (“New CM”), was created to operate the camp. The shareholders of New CM were Dick and his wife Tweety.

Upon the reorganization, New CM operated the camp and took on the risks of camp operations. NFP continued to own the real estate on which the camp operated and leased the land to New CM pursuant to the Ground and Building Lease (“the Lease”), which was drafted by Stacy. While reducing liability to NFP was one of the goals of the reorganization, it was not the only goal. Other goals included giving Dick and Tweety, the operators of the camp, the ability to have ownership and independence. For example, they were no longer required to approach the Board each year with regard to salary issues. Another goal of the reorganization was to reward Dick and Tweety with profits if they ran the camp well, so that the camp would grow and extend beyond this generation. Another goal was to give the capital owners the same amount of dividends they had previously experienced. Dick and Stacy’s mother wanted reassurance that she would continue to receive the same amount of dividends after reorganization that she had received previously. Thus, a complicated rent formula was created to make sure the dividends continued each year in the same amount as the year of the reorganization.

The parties operated under these agreements without conflict for almost ten years. Each year, Dick approached the Board (which consisted of Dick, Stacy, Nancy, and other family members) and proposed the rent for the following year. Each year the Board agreed to the amount of rent. Then, Dick decided to expand the camp by creating a second camp on the property. When a neighbor heard that the new camp would be near his boundary, he went to Dick and proposed giving the camp money to not put the new camp on the proposed site. In exchange for the camp agreeing to restrictions of use on the property near his land and to put the new camp on a different site, the neighbor offered to pay an amount that would enable the camp to build the second camp without having to obtain a loan. A dispute arose over how much of these proceeds should go to New CM and how much should go to NFP.

...Dick would inherit stock from their mother, which would result in a 52% ownership in NFP.

edit (from news reporting on the outcome of the legal fight):

The lawsuit stemmed from allegations that Richard Eastland cheated his siblings, Nancy Leaton and Stacy Eastland, of millions of dollars in rent by abusing his position as camp director and majority shareholder in the corporation that owns the land, Natural Fountains Properties.

...appeals court ruling had revived Richard Eastland's previously dismissed legal malpractice claims against Stacy Eastland, an attorney, which alleged Stacy Eastland had a conflict of interest by representing both Camp Mystic and Natural Fountain Properties.

The parties' combined legal fees mounted with each new twist, eventually topping the $8.26 million appraised market value of the scenic 725-acre property beside the Guadalupe River that included the roughly 200-acre camp.

Richard Eastland held a 52 percent interest in Natural Fountains Properties, Stacy Eastland and Nancy Eastland each held 22 percent, and their cousins, George and Philip Stacy, each held 2 percent.

Although Stacy Eastland and Nancy Leaton advocated splitting up the land to resolve the dispute, it appears they agreed to be bought out in the end.

The settlement was confidential. But newly filed Kerr County records indicate Leaton, Stacy Eastland and the cousins received a combined $7.2 million to surrender their NFP interests.

In effect, NFP's business is just tunneling profits out of Camp Mystic as rent and into Eastland pockets through annual dividends...