Federal regulators repeatedly granted Camp Mystic exemptions from floodplain regulations by removing dozens of its buildings from FEMA’s 100-year flood map, easing oversight as the camp expanded in a known high-risk flood zone.

When historic floods hit the area on July 4, the Guadalupe River overwhelmed the camp, killing at least 27 people, despite warnings and data showing the site remained at serious risk. Experts criticized FEMA's approval of the appeals—often favoring wealthy property owners—as dangerously lenient and indicative of systemic flaws in flood risk management.

Associate Professor of Political Science Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMA’s flood map determinations, tells the Associated Press it was “particularly disturbing” that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation.

“It’s a mystery to me why they weren’t taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,” she says.

In the New York Times article “FEMA Approved Removal of Many Camp Mystic Buildings From Flood Zones,” Pralle says she believes the camp’s effort is a broader problem across the country of underestimating flood risks. Federal maps, she says, can often underestimate the actual risks of potential flooding.

“I don’t feel like this is the time to fight flood maps or make them smaller,” she says. “We should see a broad expansion of flood maps.”