Travis County Judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued a new temporary injunction against the demolition, repair and alteration of the damaged Camp Mystic Guadalupe River cabins from the July 4, 2025, flood. This recent ruling follows Camp Mystic’s appeal after a similar order was issued, barring the camp from opening its Guadalupe campsite, in March.
Guerra Gamble ordered that Camp Mystic cannot alter or demolish the following cabins: Bubble Inn, Twins l and ll, Bug House, Look Inn, Hangout, Inn l and ll, Nut Hut, Chatterbox, Wiggle Inn, Giggle Box and Jumble House.
The camp is also barred from making changes to the Guadalupe River campsite’s main office building, recreation hall, dining hall, commissary and other buildings.
The injunction was issued to preserve evidence and prevent further harm in the case. The hearing is part of a lawsuit filed by Will and CiCi Steward, the parents of Cile Steward, the sole camper whose body remains missing.
“This finding is supported by facts tending to show that defendants owed a duty of care to Cile Steward and other minor campers, which they breached by operating Camp Mystic in a high-risk zone without adequate flood protections,” Guerra Gamble wrote in the injunction ruling.
Guerra Gamble stated that the Stewards would suffer injury before their trial if the camp was to resume conducting activities at the Guadalupe campsite.
“The threatened harm is imminent because plaintiffs have presented evidence that defendants are presently engaged in material alterations to the Camp Mystic site,” Guerra Gamble wrote. “The court finds this injury to be irreparable because once this physical evidence is altered or destroyed, it cannot be recreated, and no adequate remedy exists to restore the evidence or eliminate the resulting prejudice to the plaintiffs.”
The second injunction forbids the defendants from using the Guadalupe River campsite cabins and buildings for any camp operations.
The new ruling followed three days of testimony from three of the camp’s directors: Edward Eastland, Britt Eastland and Mary Liz Eastland.
Edward Eastland testified during the hearing that the camp did not have a written evacuation plan. The state of Texas requires a written evacuation plan.
The Stewards’ attorney, Brad Beckworth, asked Eastland whether he wished he had an evacuation plan.
“We had that plan,” Edward Eastland stated. “We were implementing that plan.”
Beckworth then asked whether Edward Eastland wished there was a written evacuation plan that everyone had been trained on.
“I wish we never had camp that summer,” Edward Eastland answered.
Edward Eastland testified that he did not see flood watch social media posts by the National Weather Service and the Texas Department of Emergency Management on July 2 and 3. Edward Eastland stated that he believed the local “CodeRED” mobile phone alert system and phone weather apps that the staff had “was enough.”
The flooding killed 25 campers and two counselors. Richard Eastland, the camp owner and father of Edward Eastland, was also killed in the floods.
The new injunction will be in place until the Stewards’ trial on May 3, 2027, or until the court states otherwise. The camp will not reopen for campers until after the trial concludes.
