r/KerrCountyFloods

> Will and Cici Steward shared a statement Friday, roughly one year since 27 campers and counselors died during July 4, 2025 flooding at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. Their daughter, Cile Steward, has not been found nearly 365 days later.

> "On this Fourth of July, it will be one year since our eight-year-old daughter, Cile, was killed in the floodwaters at Camp Mystic," the statement said in part. "We still do not know how we will face that morning. But we know we will not face it alone, because, in the wreckage of the Guadalupe River, there are still people searching, still refusing to leave our daughter behind. Their faithfulness is the reason we can meet that day at all. Thank you to each and every one of you."

You've all been in my heart and prayers this past year, every day of this past week, and most especially today. I'm sure I'm not the only one who went to bed last night thinking of your dear daughters and woke up this morning thinking of them as well as all of you.

You've shown incredible strength through the last 12 months; your steadfast work to make sure the unforgivable and very preventable tragedy of last year never happens again has created safety standards for camps that will protect children for generations to come.

Please know all of us who have been parents (mom of two here) are thankful for all you've done. I can only imagine how difficult this weekend is for you, and I hope you know you're in many prayers.

Love and gratitude to all of you,

"Word"

To honor & remember all those we lost in the Central Texas floods on July 4th & 5th 2025.

May their memory be a blessing.

KERR COUNTY (119)

Blue Oak RV Park (4)
John Burgess IV (39)
Julia Burgess (39)
John “Jack” Burgess V (5)
James Burgess (1)

Casa Bonita (10)
Miriam “Holly” Frizzell (72)
William “Mike” Harber (76)
Charlene Harber (74)
Blair Harber (13)
Brooke Harber (11)
Emlyn Jeffery (70)
Penelope Jeffery (70)
Madelyn “Emmy” Jeffery (11)
Mike Smith (67)
Pamela Smith (64)

Camp Mystic (28)
Mary Grace Baker (8)
Margaret Bellows (8)
Lila Bonner (9)
Chloe Childress (18)
Molly DeWitt (9)
Lucy Dillon (8)
Richard Eastland (70)
Katherine Ferruzzo (19)
Ellen Getten (9)
Hadley Hanna (8)
Virginia Hollis (8)
Janie Hunt (9)
Mary Kate Jacobe (8)
Lainey Landry (8)
Hanna Lawrence (8)
Rebecca Lawrence (8)
Kellyanne Lytal (8)
Sarah Marsh (8)
Linnie McCown (8)
Blakely McCrory (8)
Wynne Naylor (8)
Eloise “Lulu” Peck (8)
Abby Pohl (8)
Margaret Sheedy (8)
Renee Smajstrla (8)
Mary Barrett Stevens (8)
Cile Steward (8)
Greta Toranzo (10)

HTR RV Park (37)
Carol Andrews (65)
Linda Bason (78)
Robert Brake (67)
Joni Brake (66)
Michelle Crossland (50)
Cody Crossland (45)
Katheryn Eads (52)
Steve Edwards (72)
William “Bruce” Ferguson III (82)
Penny Ferguson (76)
Jayda Floyd (22)
Deana Hillock (57)
Robert Kamin (50)
Melissa Kamin (45)
Dee Ann Knetsch (66)
Gary Knetsch (60)
Robert Martin (46)
Amanda Martin (44)
Bailey Martin (23)
Jake Moeller (38)
Megan Moeller (33)
Harley Moeller (6)
Richard Pagard (71)
Tasha Ramos (48)
Joel Ramos (43)
Kyndall Ramos (17)
Jeff Ramsey (63)
Tanya Ramsey (46)
James Rushing (64)
Cindy Rushing (53)
Eddie Santana Negron Sr. (69)
Ileana Santana (66)
Camille Santana (38)
Mila Santana (5)
Jeffery Wilson (55)
Amber Wilson (45)
Shiloh Wilson (12)

Local / Own Home (15)
Ronald Duke (80)
Charlotte Huff (55)
Sally Graves (91)
Jose Olvera (70)
Alicia Olvera (67)
Jane Ragsdale (68)
Leonardo Romero (42)
Carlos Romero (1)
Julian Ryan (27)
Natalia Venzor (24)
Roy Walker (63)
Reece Zunker (36)
Paula Zunker (35)
Lyle Zunker (6)
Holland Zunker (3)

Unspecified / Other (25)
Joyce Badon (21)
Elizabeth Bryan (62)
James Hutchinson Bryan (61)
Ella Cahill (21)
Brian Carpenter (36)
Blake Carpenter (3)
Martha Crawford (61)
Richard Dunlap (73)
Josephine Dunlap (68)
Alyson Hardin (64)
Josephine Hardin (28)
Aidan Heartfield (22)
William Huston (61)
Al Iorio (66)
Tianna Mabey (66)
Claire Manchaca (21)
Clayton Meadows (29)
Clay Parisher (1)
Bradley Perry (49)
Mollie Schaffer (76)
Shon Scott (53)
Miranda Alvaro Sigala (69)
Mark Walker (51)
Sara Walker (50)
John Walker (14)

TRAVIS COUNTY (9)

Dan Dailey (67)
Virginia Watts Dailey (66)
Felicity Jarmon (16)
Braxton Jarmon (15)
Alissa Martin (54)
August Panning (50)
Gary Traugott (60)
Betty Massey West (84)
George West (54)

BURNETT COUNTY (9)

Tanya Burwick (62)
Ernest Brizendine (85)
Malaya Hammond (17)
Michael Phillips (66)
Sherry Richardson (64)
Govani Venus (57)
Preston Prince (22)
Kaitlyn Swallow (22)
Kent Wattinger (36)

I have done my best to cross reference across every source I could find to correctly attribute location. If anyone has any additional information or spots any errors please let me know and I will correct ASAP!

I drove past Mystic recently and was taken aback at just how much of Mystic you could see from the road. The cabins especially- so close to the river and so easy to spot. I know many of the camps give you a glimpse from the road, but I would feel a little unsafe with the cabins just being out in the open by the road. There were some trees but still little privacy. I’m sure there were more trees prior to the flood but am curious if Mystic always looked like this (being able to see the cabins, buildings, etc clearly from the road) or if there were much more trees that blocked the property from the street?

Life will never be the same for those who lost someone to the flood. The same goes for anyone who was in the water, witnessed the devastation, and was helpless to save those you loved. My heart goes out to all the victims and the people trying to help them overcome the losses of life and mental health from the experiences of that horrific event. July 4th will forever mark the anniversary of death and destruction that's far reaching and deep. We stand with you in remembrance on this day of mourning.

I’m going to be the devils advocate. Go outside with a tape measure, and start at 2ft. That’s deadly in swift moving water and will take your vehicle. Now move it up to 6 ft and add debris. Now show yourself 12ft and realize you aren’t at a third of this historic flood. Double it to 24 ft. We are getting to unknown territory now and we still have 12 feet before the surge, you have moved to ‘safe’ historic ground and this water that dumped in the middle of the night, not over days or with warning, is coming for you in a way you don’t get. We all wished they had evacuated earlier. Look at just 30ft measured out and tell me you would have calmly walked to the right spot through a storm, at 3 in the morning with 15 little ones, when where you are sleeping was historically safe. But this opinion will be be dismissed as a mystic simp and very few of you will look how insane the amount of water was

You should be able to bypass the paywall with your browsers reading mode

The Houston Chronicle has an op-ed from Matthew Childress, who lost his daughter at Camp Mystic, about the efforts to pursue better safety requirements after the flood disaster. Here's a key quote:

>As we approach the one-year anniversary of the flood, the families of Heaven’s 27 and our communities continue to live with the aftermath — not only of the tragedy itself, but of the legal and moral obligations that were shattered by a Christian summer camp and the institutions responsible for overseeing it.

>As I said during my testimony before the state investigative hearings, this story could have unfolded differently. There could have been apologies. There could have been contrition. There could have been meaningful conversations about accountability and the right way to move forward. A pause to reflect before reopening the camp might have led to a different outcome.

>Instead, less than three months after all those children and counselors died, the camp announced it would reopen — without consultation with the families who had lost the most. 

>Had the parents of Heaven’s 27 not committed themselves to uncovering the truth, it is entirely possible that the events of that night would have faded from public scrutiny and escaped meaningful accountability.

>Instead, there have been civil lawsuits, a state legislative investigation and an ongoing Texas Rangers criminal investigation. None of this was inevitable. It is the direct consequence of choices made by the Eastland family, the owners and directors of Camp Mystic, in the aftermath of the tragedy.  

This is beautifully written

There was no evacuation plan and no evacuation because the camp had never bothered to build a safe sanctuary to hold evacuated campers.

Despite spending a reported $15-20 million over the last 15 years on defending lawsuits from his brother, and building Cypress Lake, Dick never bothered to build a high, safe building to house the campers in case of a flood.

When "the big flood" came again, 93 years after the previous big one, there was no safe place to send the girls. Dick dawdled for two hours as the flood worsened, hoping it wouldn't really be that bad. Eventually, water was pouring down the hills inches deep and the flats were flooding too high to traverse. Rec Hall was full, and in danger of either collapsing or being swept away.

Had the Eastlands built a safe refuge for the girls to evacuate to, there would have been a building that was a standing testimony that "this is where you go when it floods". Having built such a refuge, the Camp would have then been compelled to have a real evacuation plan and a real "flood evacuation drill".

This building could have had terrific illumination, and safe paths from each cabin area to get to it. Without it, all Dick could do is hope Rec Hall didn't collapse (a miracle even an atheist would admit), and hope girls didn't get hit by lightning, trees, and flash floods while climbing up steep hills.

The lack of a safe building in which to house evacuated campers (and staff...) is THE REASON Dick dawdled and THE REASON Dick froze and THE REASON he eventually panicked and tried to shelter a cabin inside his Tahoe.

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Yes, the Camp should have sent all the girls to Camp Cypress Lake for a sleepover rather than playing Taps at 10 pm. But the fact that the Eastlands never bothered to build a safe evacuation space is evidence that they really didn't believe it would ever be needed. Had there been such a place, there could have been written procedures about exactly what objective data triggers an evacuation.

Instead, all that was available was "wait in your cabin" and "wait for instructions from Dick". And what was Dick doing? Monitoring his rain gauge, which is absurd because the flash flood, and all deadly floodwaters, come from upstream, not from rain falling on the ground you are on.

No river camp should ever be allowed to operate without a safe, DEDICATED building for evacuation, along with a written evacuation procedure, and written evacuation triggers.

edited: corrected time span since 1932 flood

I’ve shared on this page in the past, mostly about the legal proceedings involving the Eastlands. But this week isn’t about them. It isn’t about Camp Mystic. It is about the 27 incredible girls who were taken from all of us way too soon. I want to know more about each of them. And I want to share more about one of them. Because more people should have known her. She would have changed the world.