Texas Legislators Advance First Wave of Reforms for Camp Flood Preparedness 

Texas lawmakers passed the first set of bills to try and address emergency management in the wake of massive floods in early July that killed 137 people.

Measures in the bills include more training for first responders, increased communication between rescue agencies, stricter penalties for disaster relief fraud, and greater preparedness at summer youth camps, The Washington Post reported.

The Texas State Senate voted unanimously on 21 August to pass SB 1, also called the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act, named after the 27 people (25 campers and two counselors) who died at Camp Mystic all-girls youth retreat during the massive flooding in the early morning of 4 July. The bill, which had already been approved by the Texas House of Representatives as HB 1, amends the state’s health and safety code for campground and youth camp safety. The changes require youth camps to file natural disaster emergency plans with authorities, track campers during emergencies, and provide weather alert radios to every cabin. Camps will also need to maintain at least two Internet connections for redundancy.

If a camp’s emergency plan does not meet the minimum standards prescribed by the act, the plan must be revised and resubmitted within 45 days.

Youth camps will also need to train staff annually on emergency response, run safety orientations and evacuation drills for campers within two days of the start of each session, and evacuate campers to higher ground in the case of a flood or flash flood warning. Evacuation routes will need to be clearly displayed in all camp cabins.

The bill also forbids state licensing of youth camps with cabins in river floodplains, like Camp Mystic was.

“We cannot legislate away every danger in life, but we can insist on vigilance, preparedness, and accountability where children are entrusted to the care of others,” said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick in a statement about the Senate’s passage of SB 1. “This bill gives parents peace of mind and sets clear expectations for camp operators—because the safety of Texas children must always come first.”

Central Texas communities are mourning and searching through miles of debris for missing people after devastating flash flooding along the Guadalupe River swept across campgrounds and children’s summer camps. https://t.co/mTQXf1s5w2

— Security Management (@SecMgmtMag) July 7, 2025

For campgrounds, SB 1 requires campground operators to install emergency ladders capable of reaching the cabin’s roof in each campground cabin located within a floodplain. Operators must also develop emergency evacuation plans for flash floods, flood warnings, and mandatory evacuation orders, plus plans for sheltering in place in the event of a tornado warning or other emergency. Operators must submit a copy of those emergency plans to the appropriate municipality or county emergency management director or coordinator.

Next, lawmakers in the state's house and senate will streamline SB 1 and HB 1 into a unified version of the legislation to send to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his signature.

The SB 1 legislation does not include specific funding for disaster preparedness and relief, though. A different bill, SB 5, would pull $240 million from the state’s rainy day fund to match federal disaster response funds, $50 million for sirens and rain gauges in central Texas, $28 million to improve weather forecasting, and $50 million for a new interoperability council to improve emergency communication. Both the house and senate passed the bill, which will now go to Abbott to sign, the Texas Tribune reported.

State senators also passed SB 3, which requires the state to determine which flash-flood prone areas (including those flooded on 4 July) should be required to have outdoor warning sirens. It then requires the state to establish guidance on how to install, maintain, and operate them, StateScoop reported. The bill also orders the Texas governor to establish and administer a grant program to help cover the costs of installing outdoor warning sirens. A House committee approved the bill 22 August.

HB 3 would create an interoperability council (funded through SB 5) to integrate new and old emergency communication equipment and infrastructure.

Legislators are also reviewing emergency response procedures. SB 2 would establish licensing requirements for emergency management coordinators and set up a registration system for disaster response volunteers—including criminal history checks, the Tribune reported. The bill would also allow the state to “neutralize” drones (including jamming, hacking, or otherwise disabling the drone, or physically capturing the device) operating in disaster areas without government permission. The state senate and house each passed their own versions of the bill; the senate is now considering the house's changes to the legislation.