Less than a year after a devastating flood in Texas killed 25 young campers and two counselors, Camp Mystic has abandoned plans to reopen this summer after backlash and ongoing investigations.
The camp had initially aimed for a May 30 reopening, but faced intense scrutiny from Texas lawmakers, law enforcement, and victims&#8217; families. A recent state health agency review also found the camp failed to meet key safety and emergency requirements.
In a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/us/camp-mystic-texas-floods-closure.html">statement</a> released Thursday, Camp Mystic said it would not reopen and is “withdrawing its application for a summer 2026 camp 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,” the statement read.
The camp said it did not want to &#8220;remove any doubt&#8221; that it had heard concerns from grieving families, state lawmakers, and the public, though it noted that “over 800 girls want to return” this summer.
The announcement follows contentious hearings this week at the Texas State Capitol, where the Eastland family, which owns and operates Camp Mystic, faced hours of questioning from lawmakers.
“If y’all are left as an operator in any form or fashion, what deterrent does that send to another operator that I can have kids die on my watch and still be an operator?” State Senator Charles Perry said.
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst also questioned whether the camp was prepared to resume operations.
“Do you really think you’re ready to take on 500 children plus?” she asked.
The Eastlands defended their response to the disaster.
“This flood, we did not see coming,” said Edward Eastland, the camp&#8217;s director. “Our concept of high ground has now changed forever.”
Edward Eastland&#8217;s father, Dick Eastland, a former director of the camp, was among those who died in the flood.
Mary Liz Eastland, who also helps run the camp, said the family is willing to step back if necessary.
“We’re willing to take a step back, if camp can go on,” she said.
The camp is also facing multiple lawsuits from victims&#8217; families.

Death Toll Rises After Flash Floods In Texas Hill Country

Under Fire, Camp Mystic Pulls Back On Summer Plans

Texas

Tragedy

A Georgia prosecutor said Friday that he has dropped the vehicular homicide charge against a teenager who struck a high school teacher with his car during a late-night prank gone wrong.
Hall County Prosecutor Lee Darragh confirmed the dismissal to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charges-dropped-georgia-teens-fatal-high-school-prank-rcna263433">NBC News</a>.
The family of Jason Hughes, 40, the math teacher at North Hall High School who was killed, had previously said they wanted the charges dropped, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-high-school-prank-turned-deadly-now-the-victims-family-wants-charges-dropped">previously reported</a>.
“This is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” the family <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/us/georgia-teacher-killed-prank.html">said</a> in a statement to The New York Times last week. “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.”
Darragh also dismissed reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering charges against Jayden Wallace, 18, as well as criminal trespass and littering charges against four other 18-year-olds who were participating in the prank.
The Wallace family attorney said the situation was “an extremely sad and devastating accident,” not a crime, according to NBC News. He also thanked Hughes’ wife for her “remarkable compassion and spirit of forgiveness in the face of the tremendous loss of her husband.”
Hughes, a father of two, died on March 6 after being run over by a teen driver who was there with other students toilet-papering his trees. Hughes slipped near the car because of rain and was accidentally struck by the vehicle, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-georgia-teacher-killed-prank-gone-wrong-want-charges-teens-drop-rcna262482">NBC News</a>.
The teens stopped immediately and tried to administer first aid, but Hughes died of his injuries.
The prank was a tradition at the school, Hughes’ family <a href="https://abcnews.com/video/130894885/">told</a> ABC News in a statement. Hughes knew the students were coming and was excited to catch them.
“The family wants to make clear that they knew these kids and they loved them, and these kids loved the Hugheses,” the family said. “This was not a malicious act.”
A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-jason-hughes-support-his-family-4zzkn">GoFundMe</a> for the Hughes family has raised almost $490,000 as of Saturday.
“We are thankful for the outpouring of prayers and support as we grieve the loss of Jason,” the family told ABC. “We ask that you continue to pray for our family and also for the students involved in the accident along with their families. Please join us in extending grace and mercy to them as Christ has done for us.”

Photo of a blue metal lockers along a nondescript hallway in a typical US High School. No identifiable information included and nobody in the hall.

Prosecutor Drops Charges Against Teens In Tragic Prank-Gone-Wrong Death

Courts

Georgia

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U.S.

A hot air balloon accident in Brazil has claimed the lives of at least eight people.
Twenty-one people boarded the balloon on Saturday morning in the city of Praia Grande, according to the governor of Santa Catarina, Jorginho Mello.
&#8220;21 people on board &#8211; 8 fatalities, 13 survivors,&#8221; Mello posted to X on Saturday. &#8220;Our teams continue to provide all necessary support to families and victims.&#8221;
&#8220;We are all shocked by the accident,&#8221; the governor said. &#8220;We continue to monitor the situation.&#8221;
Praia Grande is in southern Santa Catarina, which is a popular tourist destination, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17w04wxwpxo">noted</a>.
Video of the tragic accident was posted by an aviation news account, showing a fiery crash to the ground.
It&#8217;s unclear what caused the accident.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
At least eight people have died in a hot air balloon accident in Brazil, a state governor has said.
There were 21 people on board the balloon in the city of Praia Grande on Saturday morning, Governor of Santa Catarina Jorginho Mello said in a post on X.
Mello said 13 people… <a href="https://t.co/NwHWQImBvI">pic.twitter.com/NwHWQImBvI</a>
— Breaking Aviation News &amp; Videos (@aviationbrk) <a href="https://twitter.com/aviationbrk/status/1936428260365128019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2025</a></blockquote>

Preparing Hot Air Balloons To Fly over Cappadocia

Horrifying Video Shows Hot Air Balloon Accident That Left 8 Dead

Brazil

Death

General

World

The founder of the company whose submersible became lost on a dive to view the wreckage of the Titanic, sparking a frantic, deep-sea rescue effort that has riveted people around the world, once declared he didn’t want to hire “50-year-old white guys” on his team even if they were seasoned submariners.
Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, is aboard the submerged vessel along with billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman. Since the 22-foot craft lost contact with the surface early Sunday, critics have come forward to blast the company&#8217;s safety practices. But Rush was previously adamant that he values youth over experience when it comes to assembling his crews.
“When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military sub-mariners, and they — you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old white guys,” Rush told Teledyne Marine representatives before the expedition began. Teledyne Marine made the sonar systems and the navigation systems for the vessel.
“I wanted our team to be younger, to be inspirational,” he continued. “And I’m not going to inspire a 16-year-old to go pursue marine technology, but a 25-year-old who’s a sub pilot or a platform operator, one of our techs, can be inspirational. So we’ve really tried to get very intelligent, motivated, younger individuals involved because we’re doing things that are completely new.”
“We’re taking approaches that are used largely in the aerospace industry as related to safety and some of the preponderance of checklists, things we do for risk assessments, things like that that are more aviation-related than ocean-related,” he declared. “We can train people to do that; we can train someone to pilot the sub. We use like game controller so anybody can drive the sub.”
Aaron Amick, founder of Sub Brief, who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SubBrief/about">served</a> as a U.S. Navy contractor and provided strategic and policy level consultation for domestic and international clients on cleared Navy projects, played the call from Rush in a video explaining some of the problems the beleaguered vessel may have faced as it has reputedly sunk to a depth of 12,000 feet below the surface.
“You don’t want to only hire young college graduates that you would then train to inspire the next generation,” Amick opined.  “You have to have subject matter experts at some point in the chain. And I’m not talking about the vice-admiral that’s on the board of directors &#8230; but you don’t seem to have a subject matter expert that’s from the submarine community, that could maybe talk about some of the problems.”
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Titanic tourist submersible disappear on an expedition to explore the famed shipwreck

Boss Of Titanic Sub Company Didn’t Want ‘50-Year-Old White Guys’ On His Team

Ocean Gate

submarine

Titanic

Menu

Tragedy

Under Fire, Camp Mystic Pulls Back On Summer Plans

Prosecutor Drops Charges Against Teens In Tragic Prank-Gone-Wrong Death

Horrifying Video Shows Hot Air Balloon Accident That Left 8 Dead

Boss Of Titanic Sub Company Didn’t Want ‘50-Year-Old White Guys’ On His Team