Families Testify on Children’s Deaths at Camp Mystic Were 100 Percent Preventable [WATCH]

Parents who lost their children in the devastating flood at Camp Mystic in Texas testified before lawmakers this week, calling their daughters’ deaths “100% preventable” and demanding mandatory safety standards for summer camps across the state, as reported by The Center Square.

Camp Mystic, a private girls’ camp in the Texas Hill Country, sits along the Guadalupe River in what is known as “Flash Flood Alley.” On August 5, the river rose rapidly, sweeping through the camp.

President Trump pays tribute to the girls of Camp Mystic

pic.twitter.com/jNHYv4h6YQ

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 11, 2025

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First Lady: “We are all grieving with you. We met with wonderful families. Prayed with them. Hugged them. They shared their stories.”

She shows a bracelet that was gifted to her made by Camp Mystic girls pic.twitter.com/nExJwk1zEw

— Sara Rose (@saras76) July 11, 2025

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The flood killed 27 campers, counselors, and one camp co-owner. Two victims, including 8-year-old camper Cile Steward, remain missing.

Records show the camp had repeatedly appealed to FEMA to be removed from a 100-year floodplain designation, a request that was granted before the disaster.

Despite the history of floods in the area, the camp had no emergency alarms, weather radios, communication towers, or evacuation plan in place, according to testimony. Campers were told to remain in their cabins as the waters rose.

At a Texas Senate committee hearing Wednesday, parents who lost their children urged legislators to act.

A powerful moment in the Texas House today, as the parents who lost their daughters in the flooding at Camp Mystic watched the chamber overwhelmingly pass House Bill 1—our priority bill to keep Texas children safe at camps. These parents have poured their heartbreak and grief… pic.twitter.com/O2KbI2QwGs

— Dustin Burrows (@Burrows4TX) August 21, 2025

Michael McCown, whose daughter Linnie, 8, was among the victims, said:

“We trusted Camp Mystic with her precious life, but that trust was broken in the most devastating way. The camp had a heightened duty of care, and they failed to perform. That failure cost 25 campers and two young counselors their lives. No one had to die that day.”

Cici Williams Steward, whose daughter Cile remains missing, said:

“My daughter was stolen from us. Cile’s life ended. Not because of an unavoidable act of nature. But because of preventable failures. Obvious common sense safety measures were absent. Protocols that should have been in place were ignored.”

Clark Baker, father of Mary Grace, echoed the sentiment.

“My daughter should still be here. Her death was 100% preventable. Complacency, among other things, led to the deaths of 27 amazing, innocent, beautiful girls. We can’t let complacency claim the life of another child.”

Baker called for state-mandated safety standards and pointed to past floods in Texas, saying natural disasters will happen again.

Another parent, Blake Bonner, who lost his daughter Lila, said the tragedy reflected “a failure of planning, prevention, detection and response.”

He asked lawmakers:

“Why were our children sleeping in a known high risk flood zone? Why was the stated evacuation plan to stay in place? Why were there no adequate warning systems in the cabins, despite a similar tragedy on the very river as recently as 1987?”

The parents expressed support for Senate Bill 1, which would require camps to relocate cabins out of floodplains, create evacuation procedures, and implement modern communication and weather alert systems.

The bill advanced out of committee and is expected to pass and be signed into law.

“I told her she would be OK. I lied to her. Not only was she not OK. She died,” said Carrie Hanna, whose 8-year-old daughter Hadley was among 27 children and counselors killed in the July Fourth flood at Camp Mystic. Families pleaded with Texas lawmakers for stronger safety… pic.twitter.com/NIaoRtTEkJ

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 20, 2025

Parents emphasized that without swift reform, children at the state’s 1,100 summer camps remain at risk.

Baker told lawmakers:

“Camps, especially those in areas prone to flash floods, should have adequate warning systems and not build cabins in dangerous floodplains. Have a legitimate evacuation plan. Know the plan. Practice the plan. Train workers and counselors to implement the plan.”

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