AUSTIN, Texas — The director of Camp Mystic, where 27 young girls and counselors died in historic flooding last year, sobbed in a Texas courtroom Monday as he struggled to recall his desperate attempts to evacuate children in the dark as river water surged through the camp.
Edward Eastland spent more than five hours on the stand, answering questions from the attorney for the family of Cecilia “Cile” Steward, 8, the only girl whose body has not been found. Her parents have sued Camp Mystic to prevent the Eastlands from reopening this summer. Their license renewal is pending with the state, which has also opened a criminal investigation into what happened.
“You could have got on the loudspeaker and said everybody run for it,” said the Stewards’ attorney, Brad Beckworth.
Eastland insisted that once he realized the severity of the flooding, he tried to save the campers but was too late.
“There were girls going out of the front door. I grabbed two girls and there was a third one I didn’t grab,” Eastland testified, adding that another girl “jumped on my back — I don’t know who it was — before we got washed out.”
“The water was over my head very quickly. The water was churning,” Eastland said.
Other girls later told him they saw a camper with him in the water, he said. “That part of the whole night has been a big blur for me,” he added.
“What happened to Cile?” Beckworth said.
“I don’t know,” Eastland said.
“Was she one of the girls with you when you were swept out?” Beckworth said.
“I don’t know,” Eastland said, sobbing. “She wasn’t one of the girls from Twins I [cabin], but I don’t know if she was on my back.”
Beckworth paused and said he knew it was hard for Eastland, whose father, Dick Eastland, 70, had died that night trying to rescue campers.
Then Beckworth returned to Cile: “What was she wearing? Do you recall seeing her at all?”
“No, I don’t,” Eastland said.
Beckworth also questioned Eastland about the camp’s response to the storm warnings. Eastland said he did not see official warnings issued the day before the storm, did not meet with staff about the impending flood, went to bed at 11 p.m. and missed both a National Weather Service flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. and simultaneous alert text.
Eastland acknowledged the camp had no detailed flood evacuation plan; that more campers would have survived if camp officials had decided to evacuate more quickly, broadcasting warnings over camp loudspeakers and directing counselors to take campers to higher ground. But he insisted that his family had done all they could in the face of historic flooding.
“I wish we never had camp that summer,” Eastland said.
Catherine “Cici” Steward wiped her eyes during the testimony. So did a dozen other mothers seated on her side of the court gallery, which was packed. The other side, where supporters of Eastland wore “Mystic” buttons, was about half full.
Last fall, the Eastland family announced plans to reopen the Cypress Lake side of camp — on higher ground farther from the Guadalupe River and where no campers died. They claimed the flood that killed 136 people across Hill Country was unprecedented. But many parents of campers and counselors who died in the flood — known as “Heaven’s 27” — disagreed and sued the camp, alleging negligence.
Last month, the Eastlands applied to renew their state license and plan to reopen in six weeks. However, investigations by state health officials and the Texas Rangers are ongoing. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick cited the investigation last week in a letter urging state health officials not to renew the camp’s license, saying he “would not feel comfortable sending my grandchildren to a camp where 27 young girls lost their lives less than a year ago.”
At issue during Monday’s hearing was a temporary injunction Austin District Court Judge Mayra Guerra Gamble issued last month in the Stewards’ lawsuit requiring camp officials to cordon off flooded areas along the Guadalupe River to preserve evidence like high water marks in the cabins. The Eastlands’ attorneys have appealed. Gamble is expected to rule at the end of the three-day hearing on whether the injunction will stand as the Stewards’ lawsuit proceeds.
Eastland confirmed Camp Mystic has enrolled about 850 campers and accepted deposits from more than 600. But he insisted they would not use areas along the Guadalupe River that flooded and where cabins might still contain potential evidence protected by the temporary injunction.
Beckworth displayed the camp’s pending state license application, which said campers would “hike and explore all 750 acres of Camp Mystic” including swimming, kayaking, diving and other activities on the Guadalupe where state investigators are still searching for Cile’s body.
“The order doesn’t allow that, does it?” Beckworth said, as parents in the gallery murmured.
“No, and we won’t do that. They won’t go near the Guadalupe,” Eastland said, claiming the list of activities was outdated and had been submitted by mistake.
Beckworth then showed photos of cabins, a bridge and other areas of the camp that he said — and Eastland conceded — had been remodeled since the flood, removing high water marks and other evidence.
After the hearing ended, Eastland’s attorney, Mikal Watts, said his client’s testimony showed he “did his best, saved lives.”
“I’m proud of him and what he did,” Watts said, noting the flood was “unforeseeable. The volume of water was unprecedented.”
“He’s a hero,” Watts said.
Others at the hearing agreed.
“The deaths that happened, I don’t think it’s anything the Eastlands did or did not do,” said Liberty Lindley of Kerrville, whose 9-year-old daughter Evie survived the flood and is registered to return this summer.
“I don’t think this was their fault. This was beyond them,” Lindley said.
But standing outside court after the hearing, Beckworth described Edward Eastland as “disturbed and certainly not capable of operating a camp for 850 kids.”
Cici Steward said Eastland’s testimony showed why his family should not be trusted to reopen Camp Mystic.
“Now is the time for the state of Texas to step in and deny the license for Camp Mystic because it is so clear they are incapable of keeping children safe,” she said, faulting the “reckless leadership of the Eastland family.”
Her husband, Will Steward, noted that Eastland confirmed on the stand that the first cabin his family evacuated was the one housing his niece.
“So for every parent waiting to send your kid back there, I hope their name’s Eastland,” Steward said, because otherwise “you’re rolling the dice.”
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