Mystic Alerts bill signed into law

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump has signed a bill into law to expand wireless emergency alerts and enhance emergency preparedness for disasters.

The Mystic Alerts Act unanimously passed both houses of Congress earlier this year.

U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, and U.S. Reps. August Pfluger, R-Texas, Buddy Carter, R-Georgia, and Marc Veasey, D-Texas, filed it in the wake of the July 4, 2025, Texas Hill Country floods.  

It’s named after Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp in Hunt, Texas, where 27 girls drowned during an historic July 4, 2025, flash flood. 

In the early morning hours of July 4, 139 people were swept to their deaths by a raging Guadulupe River in multiple counties in central Texas. The majority were killed in Kerr County, who didn’t receive emergency alerts on their phones or in enough time to evacuate. County and city officials also failed to issue warnings, authorities learned at state legislative hearings, prompting a series of legislative reforms, The Center Square reported.

To address the issue of emergency alert system failures, a bipartisan coalition filed the four-page bill to modernize the national emergency alert infrastructure by integrating satellite networks into the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The alert system is voluntary. 

The bill requires each commercial mobile service provider that voluntarily elects to transmit emergency alerts to notify the Federal Communications Commission of their plans to transmit emergency alerts by satellite to their mobile subscribers or users. If the providers choose not to transmit emergency alerts by satellite, they must notify new and existing subscribers and users. They must also provide a consumer choice to opt out.

It also directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish the necessary rules and policies to preserve the effectiveness of WEA infrastructure while integrating satellite communication. It creates a new communications pathway to enable the delivery of emergency alerts in areas where other infrastructure has been destroyed or taken offline. 

Cornyn said the new law addresses technology shortfalls and “honors the memory of those lost by ensuring Texans and all Americans can receive wireless emergency alerts on their mobile devices via satellite even when disaster strikes.

“By bringing satellite technology into our emergency alert system, we’re making sure warnings reach people when they need them most. This law is a major step forward for emergency preparedness, and it means more Americans will get the warnings they need, no matter where they live,” Pfluger said. His two daughters were at Camp Mystic during the flood and survived. 

The bill was signed into law as the state criminal investigation is ongoing into the camp’s owners, members of the Easland family, and as multiple wrongful deaths lawsuits make their way through the litigation process.

The camp and its owners continue to deny culpability for the girls’ deaths. Earlier this year, during court hearings, at least two of the Eastlands testified under oath that they didn’t prioritize rescuing the youngest 8-year-old campers housed closest to the river. If they had, the lawsuit and a state investigation have alleged, the girls would not have drowned and would still be alive. 

Edward Eastland testified to prioritizing moving canoes instead of 8-year-olds, The Center Square reported. 

In a Texas Rangers affidavit released this month, it states that the camp’s nurse, Mary Liz Eastland, testified in April that she left the children. It also points to her not reporting the girls’ deaths to the state in compliance with state law for nearly 10 months. At state legislative hearings, state lawmakers expressed outrage, calling on her to comply with the law. The state nursing board also partially suspended her license. 

This month, Texas Ranger Brant Johnson executed search warrants for phone records and other information of Eastland family members in an ongoing criminal investigation. One affidavit states that it was Johnson’s belief that Camp Mystic, LLC committed the offenses of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, injury to a child, abandoning and endangering a child and deadly conduct.

The Texas Rangers investigation has found that several Camp Mystic owners and operators refused to cooperate or be interviewed.

The Eastlands and Camp Mystic didn’t respond to requests for comment about the affidavit allegations or the search warrants.  

A state legislative report identified areas where the camp wasn’t in compliance with state law related to emergency plans, didn’t adequately prepare for the storm despite having access to weather updates, and reunification efforts “were chaotic with traumatic effects for families.” 

The state also mandated that the camp remain closed. Not soon after, it filed for bankruptcy.

A judge also ordered that the camp not tear down the remaining cabins where some of the girls died to preserve evidence as state investigations continued.