AUSTIN, Texas — A director of Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian camp along the Guadalupe River in Texas’ Hill Country, offered a tearful apology Tuesday to the families of the 25 campers and two counselors killed in a 2025 flood.
“We tried our hardest that night. It wasn’t enough to save your daughters,” said Edward Eastland, a member of the family that owns the 100-year-old camp. “I’m so sorry.”
Eastland’s apology came as dozens of the girls’ family members sat just a few feet behind him during the second day of a special legislative hearing on the devastating July 4 flood. A written report of findings is expected later this year.
Eastland said that he and his father, Richard, were on the campsite that night, and that they made a desperate attempt to save the girls when they realized that heavy rain had created a raging flood that ripped through the camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River. Richard Eastland died in the flood and his son survived only after being swept into a tree.
“These girls [who died] were our youngest campers and their amazing counselors who we watched grow up,” Eastland said. “The world was a better place with them in it and the anger at us for not being able to keep them safe is completely reasonable.”
Britt Eastland, another director, said the camp will train counselors and stage drills for campers to prepare for floods, fire, tornadoes and intruders. Legislative investigators on Monday noted the camp’s previous lack of training as a critical problem that contributed to the deaths.
“All of these things should have been done in the first place,” said state Sen. Charles Perry.
Camp Mystic families are expected to testify later in the day.
The camp’s owners want to reopen in late May and have said they will use only parts of the camp that didn’t flood. They expect nearly 900 girls on campus in the summer. Those plans have angered victims’ families, and some prominent Texas officials have called for state regulators to deny or delay renewal of the camp’s license, which is under review.
The Legislature doesn’t meet again until January, and the panel does not control the review of Camp Mystic’s license.
Vertuno writes for the Associated Press.
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