Six months after deadly July floods, Texas Hill Country camps are installing a new flood warning system to protect campers and rebuild parent trust.
Approximately 50K pills of methamphetamine-laced Adderall seized from apartment near Klein High SchoolLarge amount of blood found in dumpster in Houston ’s Greenspoint area– Hours before devastating floods swept through the Texas Hill Country last July, Camp Vistas had just bid farewell to 270 children heading home from summer camp .
, one of the Southwest’s oldest camps. “We had 270 kids go home at lunch that day and probably 85 or so of our staff left for a night off. So, there’s only about 30, 35 of us here on camp that night.” HUNT, Texas - Justin Hawkins, the owner of Vistas Camps , poses for a photo on December 16, 2025.Now, six months after the disaster, Texas Hill Country camps are taking unprecedented steps to protect their young campers. A groundbreaking flood detection system, developed by a group of concerned camp parents, could transform how these historic institutions handle severe weather threats., represents more than just new technology, it’s part of a broader effort to rebuild trust and ensure the survival of a cherished Texas tradition that spans nearly a century.For Ian Cunningham, a former Navy pilot and airline captain, the July floods hit particularly close to home.HUNT, Texas - Ian Cunningham, the founder of River Sentry, poses for a photo next to a River Sentry flood detection tower at Camp Rio Vista on December 16, 2025.“After the floods, I found myself asking why this hasn’t been solved,” Cunningham said. “We know where the threat is coming from. We just don’t know when. And we know where that threat is going downstream.” Drawing on his aviation background, where threat mitigation is routine, Cunningham assembled a team of fellow camp dads, many with backgrounds in technology and engineering, to develop a solution that would work even when traditional infrastructure fails. HUNT, Texas - Members of the River Sentry team stand next to an installed river flood detection device that was invested in the months following the devastating July 4, 2025, flood in the Texas Hill Country.“We were all heavily interested in solving this, not only as parents but as camp dads,” Cunningham explained. “We shouldn’t tolerate this anymore. Let’s just fix this issue. It’s within our technological ability.”Unlike conventional flood alerts that rely on weather services and river gauges, River Sentry creates an independent network of flood detection towers that can function even when power, cellular and internet services fail. “That’s where these things are going to come into play,” Cunningham said. “Once the situation gets to a certain level, a certain high risk threshold, we’re going to intervene and we’re going to start the evacuation without any other decision making required. We’re there to guard the line between dangerous flooding becoming deadly flooding.”Two AS-124 speakers capable of generating 135-decibel alarmsBattery backup systems with solar charging optionsThe system is designed to ensure sleeping campers hear the alarm. “It’s placed here so that we can generate at least 75 decibels inside the sleeping structure that it’s protecting,” Cunningham noted. “That’s benchmarked against commercial fire code.”A group led by Camp Mystic plans to install 100 towers along the North and South Fork of the Guadalupe River before the 2026 camping season, creating a network that will benefit entire neighborhoods. “This encampment and all the ones up there kind of serve this unique role,” Cunningham explained. “They serve the camp that they’re on, but they also serve the greater community solution for the entire river.”The company is also developing smaller “flood cubes” for residential use that can receive warnings from nearby towers, extending protection to local homeowners.For camp directors, the technology represents a crucial step in rebuilding parent confidence. During the flooding, 25 campers and two counselors weren’t able to escape the flooding of Guadalupe River. The owner of the camp, Dick Eastland, also didn’t survive. Dick Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, passed away during the catastrophic July 4, 2025, flood.His son, Britt Eastland, was there that night, but at their Cypress Lake camp, which is on higher ground. Britt is now taking charge of the camp and invited KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding onto the campground for the first time since the flood. “My wife and I, we’re the directors of this camp and as we were watching over the girls here,” he said. “We were fortunate this camp didn’t flood. And so they were safe in their cabins.” The Cypress Lake location will be re-opening for the 2026 camping season, but their cabins and camp along the Guadalupe River will remain closed. It’s fate remains in a sort of limbo. But before any campers can claim their bunk in a cabin, they’ll be the first to be under a new safety protocol. “Working with a third party safety experts to come up with a good plan that the parents feel comfortable with, too,” said Eastland. “We have found out from so many families that it will be healing if we do it right. If we keep them safe and have fun with their best friends and they’re outside in nature and we have the plans in place.”“Now we know what this river can do and these towers... the training we’re going to do is not just to prevent something happening from another historic flood, but... we’re gonna have better tornado procedures for fires, for all kinds of things,” Eastland explains.“It is. And we understand that this is a year and a summer that a lot of parents are going to ask a lot of questions and a lot parents are maybe going to say this isn’t this is in the summer we are going bring our daughter.”“I don’t want these to ever go off because the water’s here,” he said. “But if mine go off because I got warned, that’s amazing.”As the Hill Country approaches the 2026 camping season, the implementation of River Sentry marks a significant step in the region’s recovery. The system could serve as a model for similar communities nationwide, demonstrating how innovation can emerge from tragedy when driven by those with deep personal connections to the community. “It will be so good for families, it’ll be so good for the campers, it will be so good for even the public to see why families send their kids to camp and why it’s so good for them,” Eastland said. “We’re working non-stop to make sure that confidence is in place.”Gage Goulding is an award-winning TV news reporter and anchor. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, he comes to Texas from Fort Myers, FL, where he covered some of the areas most important stories, including Hurricane Ian.New flood detection system going up at camps in Texas Hill CountryAirBnB shuts down Montrose ‘Grand House’ again after KPRC 2 gets involvedWhat to do if you come across an aggressive dogKPRC 2 viewer records video showing rats on fresh produce at Humble WalmartMan killed, mother and 3-year-old injured in Katy dog attackWill Houston have another WARM CHRISTMAS this year?Still chilly this morning, but Houston set to warm near 80 for ChristmasBaytown officer indicted for October crash that killed Harris County deputy’s childrenHere are your top stories for Dec. 15
Texas Texas Hill Country Camp Mystic Camp Rio Vista Camp Sierra Vista Houston Summer Camp Kerrville Kerr County Hunt Ingram Center Point Comfort Guadalupe River Flood Weather Texas Hill Country Flood Severe Weather River Sentry Britt Eastland Technology Austin San Antonio
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