Texas camp where 25 girls died drops reopening plans after parents protest

Texas camp where 25 girls died drops reopening plans after parents protest19 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKwasi Gyamfi AsieduAFP via Getty ImagesCamp Mystic, a Texas all-girls camp where 25 children and two counsellors died in last year's devastating floods, says it will not reopen this summer.The camp said it had planned to host 800 girls to a different location this summer, which did not experience any fatalities, before withdrawing its application for a license."No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July's tragedy," it said.The withdrawal follows mounting pressure from parents of girls who died at the camp. Multiple investigations into the evacuation plans of the camp remain ongoing.More than 130 people died in the central Texas floods over the 4 July holiday that shocked the nation and brought into sharp focus several emergency warning failures in the state.The tragedy at the private 700‑acre private Christian summer camp founded in 1926, received particular attention given the flood-prone location.The camp filed its application to renew its license and reopen this summer, before Texas lawmakers heard two days of heart wrenching testimony from flooding event investigators.Family members of those who were killed urged authorities not to allow the camp to reopen.A review by the Texas Department of State Health Services, reported by The New York Times, said the camp's emergency plans must undergo major revisions to receive a license to reopen.On Thursday, the camp said in a statement that it would not seek to make those corrections and would instead opt to withdraw."Rather than risk defending our rights under Texas law in a manner that may unintentionally effect further harm, we choose rather to withdraw our application for the 2026 camp season," it said.Texas Governor Gre...