Camp Mystic asked to remove buildings from government flood maps despite risk

The federal government allowed Camp Mystic, the all-girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River, to remove multiple buildings from government flood maps, even though private data suggests the flood threat remained, and was even worse than the government reported, according to documents and data NPR has reviewed.

The camp requested that FEMA, the agency responsible for creating maps that help warn Americans where water might rise, remove more than a dozen buildings from what FEMA designates a floodplain at least twice in 2013, 2019 and 2020, the documents show. That last request in 2020 coincided with a major expansion during which the camp built a number of new structures but does not appear to have taken down any cabins from dangerous flood areas.