After the Flood

Summary

Dateline NBC: "After the Flood" (June 30, 2026)

Podcast Summary

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Overview

"After the Flood" examines the tragic events of July 4, 2025, when a catastrophic flash flood swept through Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp in Texas, killing 27 campers and counselors. Through interviews with survivors, grieving families, camp staff, investigators, and attorneys, the episode explores the timeline of the flood, the decisions made that night, the aftermath for affected families, and the search for accountability and answers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Setting and Traditions of Camp Mystic

• Camp Mystic had a long-standing reputation for safety, faith, and formative summer experiences for young girls.
• Operated by the Eastland family since 1974, it was cherished by generations of Texas families.
• Personal Connections: Survivors and families describe Camp Mystic as a spiritual sanctuary and a place deeply embedded in their family histories.
  • “Mystic is the closest thing to heaven that I've ever experienced. It's where my faith began.”
    — Ainslie Bishara, Counselor (03:06)

The Night of the Flood

A Growing Threat

• On July 3, 2025, campers and staff prepared for Independence Day celebrations as weather warnings loomed.
• The first National Weather Service flash flood warning was issued at 1:14 am (05:22), but evacuation efforts started much later.

Moments of Terror ("Minute-by-minute timeline")

• Torrential rain turned a usually dry creek into a raging torrent.
• Evacuation Delays: Some counselors were told to shelter in place, while others attempted to guide children to safer ground.
  • “We're being told to stay in our cabin. Stay in our cabin, stay in our cabin. I see the water pouring into our cabin.”
    — Ainslie Bishara (07:29)
• Heroic Efforts: Some counselors defied orders, carrying and guiding children through floodwaters and up muddy, rain-slick hills to pavilions and the rec hall.
  • “I would carry three of them at a time... trip after trip until all of the girls were out of our cabin and up to the pavilion.”
    — Ainslie Bishara (09:36)
• Critical Moments: By 3:35 am, rescue and evacuation efforts were chaotic, many girls and staff trapped or swept away.
• Harsh Realities: 911 calls document the escalating terror as waters continued to rise and options for escape dwindled (11:52, 16:08).

The Losses and Personal Stories

• Tragic Toll: 27 lives lost. Survivors and families recount the pain of waiting for news and facing unimaginable grief.
  • “It was going to be a place of healing for her, but it actually became a place of death for her too.”
    — Lindsey McCrory (Blakely’s mom), speaking about her daughter (21:06)
• Families describe how their lives were shattered, with scenes at makeshift reunification centers marked by despair and anguish.
  • “You're walking around without part of you and you have to learn something somehow to continue with life. Missing a whole, you know, piece of it.”
    — Jenny Getten (Ellen’s mom) (24:32)
• The community mourns not just the children, but also Dick Eastland, the camp’s patriarch, who died attempting rescues (25:50).
• Survivors wrestle with guilt, trauma, and the challenges of continuing on (26:17).

Seeking Answers and Accountability

• Families’ Search for Truth: Frustrated by the Eastlands' lack of communication, parents conducted their own investigation.
  • “We've never received a debrief, if you will.”
    — Jenny Getten (31:04)
• Evacuation Protocols Questioned: Evidence shows a two-hour delay in response after the first flash flood warning.
  • “To the best of our knowledge, they didn't start moving girls until after 3 o' clock in the morning. So they waited roughly two hours.”
    — Gwynne Getten (32:26)
• The official protocol was to shelter in cabins, despite the proximity of higher ground and the rec hall.
  • “All cabins are on high safe locations. And we all just were reeling.”
    — Lindsey McCrory (33:23)
  • Counselors confirm the lack of emergency training or equipment such as walkie talkies (33:47, 33:55).

Legal Fallout and State Investigations

• Lawsuits & Legislation: Families filed lawsuits alleging gross negligence and lack of transparency.
  • “I want the lawsuit to… show transparency… as well as accountability.”
    — Lindsey McCrory (35:50)
  • “There was a known flooding risk that was very well known to the Eastland family who runs the camp. There was no disclosure or communication to us.”
    — Gwynne Getten (36:26)
• Camp’s Response and Defenses:
  • Eastlands’ attorney argued the flood was an unpreventable, rare event, and that “shelter in place” was the best safety protocol (40:43).
• Disputed Narrative: Weather experts argued the flood was due to the nearby rising river, not unexpected runoff as claimed by the Eastlands (39:34).
• Regulatory Changes: The tragedy spurred legislative action, resulting in a new camp safety act (43:37).

Closure, Controversy, and Continuing Grief

• Decision Not to Reopen: After public outrage and an unfavorable report from state investigators outlining deficiencies and inadequate planning, Camp Mystic ultimately filed for bankruptcy and did not reopen (43:37).
• Lasting Impact: Survivors and families express that the loss and trauma is ever-present.
  • “It's the permanence that's shattering and it just doesn't stop.”
    — Gwynne Getten (44:01)
  • “We have gone through hell and back and we're still going through through it every, every day.”
    — Lindsey McCrory (44:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Moment of Realization:
  • "I don't think I'll ever forget the moment when the head count was done and Bubblyn was called, and they weren't there. Not a single girl was there."
    — Ainslie Bishara, Counselor (14:23)
• Survivor's Guilt:
  • “It's a survivor's guilt that I can't even explain in words because why am I here and others are not.”
    — Ainslie Bishara (26:31)
• Haunted by the ‘What-Ifs’:
  • “It was extremely poor decision making that we believe led to our children's deaths.”
    — 911 Operator/Interviewer, summarizing parent group (33:06)
• On Reopening the Camp Too Soon:
  • "It's unthinkable that they would open a camp so soon after 27 people died on their watch.”
    — Lindsey McCrory (34:31)
• On Accountability:
  • “What is the rush?”
    — Ainslie Bishara (35:07)
  • “It shows that they want profit over camp safety.”
    — Jenny Getten (35:08)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:08 — Ainslie Bishara recalls the terror as water pours into the cabin.
• 02:48 — Ainslie’s background and the traditions of Camp Mystic.
• 05:22 — Flash flood warning issued.
• 07:29 — Counselor describes conflicting instructions during evacuation.
• 09:36 — Ainslie recounts rescuing her cabin’s girls.
• 14:23 — Realization at Rec Hall: entire cabins unaccounted for.
• 17:48 — Jenny Getten’s search for her missing daughter.
• 21:06 — Lindsey McCrory on hoped-for healing turned to tragedy.
• 26:31 — Ainslie Bishara’s survivor’s guilt.
• 31:04 — Families’ frustration at lack of communication from camp leadership.
• 32:26 — Parents allege two-hour delay before evacuations.
• 33:06 — Parent group accuses camp of poor decision making.
• 35:07 — Outrage at camp’s intention to reopen.
• 39:34 — Weather experts challenge camp’s explanation of the flood’s cause.
• 43:37 — State report: camp lacked required emergency plans and did not timely evacuate.
• 44:01 — Grieving families reflect on the permanence of their loss.

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Tone and Language

The tone is somber, investigative, and emotionally powerful, blending survivor and parent testimonies with journalistic inquiry and legal debate. Family members' grief is palpable, and their anger and frustration over unanswered questions drive much of the narrative. The episode also highlights moments of courage, community, and resolve to seek justice and prevent future tragedies.

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This episode is a powerful, deeply reported chronicle of disaster, loss, and the ongoing search for answers, accountability, and healing after one of Texas’s deadliest camp floods.

Transcript

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[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

The girls were terrified. I see the water pouring into our cabin. It literally swept me off my feet. Oh my gosh, what do we do?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

It happened last 4th of July. The wall of water that swallowed Camp Mystic.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

We learned that Blakely was missing.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

What's going through your mind?

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

It was torturous.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

I said, where's Ellen? She said, the entire cabin is missing. We prayed to God that she was out there holding on.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

You are seeing trunks float down the river. You're seeing cars fly by you.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

27 girls die. Should have never happened.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Could this tragedy have been averted?

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

100%.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

Our girls should be here.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

They were told to stay in their cabins.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

Hundreds of girls lives were saved.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

So you're making an argument for keeping them inside the cabins.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

It's called shelter in place.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

It is the closest to hell that I had ever been.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The terrifying floods here at Camp mystic. One year later. Anguish, anger and haunting questions. I'm Lester Holt and this is Nateland. Here is after the flood. For many kids, summer camp is a rite of passage. At Camp mystic, an all girls Christian camp in the Texas hill country, that tradition ran deep.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

I have been attending mystic for 10 summers as a camper.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

First year counselor Ainslie Bishara.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

I had always known that I was gonna be a counselor. And mystic is the closest thing to heaven that I've ever experienced. It's where my faith began.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Owned and operated by Dick and Tweedie Eastland Since 1974, Camp mystic had drawn Texas families to the Guadalupe river for almost a century.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

They were so invested in every single girl. I mean, you could just See the love that the two of them had and it was so 11 year old.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Gwynne Getton, in her fourth year, had felt that love. Now it was her nine year old sister Ellen's turn.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

She was finally old enough to be a big girl and kind of go off and, you know, not have her mom and dad around.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Their parents, Jenny and Doug.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

How did Gwen feel about having her sister at the camp?

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

Very excited.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

They had already figured out before they even left what activities they were gonna try to do together.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Camp mystic offered everything from horseback riding to river canoeing. Lindsey McCrory hoped that for her eight year old daughter Blakely, it could also be a place of healing.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

Blakely had lost her father a few months before camp. My late husband after a brief battle with cancer. And then her uncle died in June. My brother. So we were happy for her to spend time outdoors and just be a kid.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Blakely, Ellen and more than 500 campers arrived on June 29, 2025. Spread across cabins near the river and up on higher ground. Blakeley was assigned to a cabin called Twins One, one of two interconnected cabins about 400ft from the river. Ellen got Bubble Inn right next door and Ainslie was a few steps away in GiggleBox, one of three counselors responsible for 16 young campers aged 8 to 10.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

So younger kids would have been staying closer to the river.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

Yes.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The camp settled into its usual rhythm of games, activities and Sunday devotionals. Ellen went fishing and joined the crafts group. As the end of the first week neared, she and her sister looked forward to the big July 4th celebration.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

On July 3rd, Gwen went to her cabin. They were having a dance party and kissed Ellen goodnight. And Ellen kissed her cheek. And they said they loved each other.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Outside, a storm was brewing. A powerful weather system had stalled over Central Texas and was about to unleash waves of thunderstorms over the same area for hours. Dick Eastland was awake and monitoring the weather when the National Weather Service issued its first flash Flood warning on July 4th at 1:14am it was scary. About a half hour later, 10 year old Lucy Kennedy woke up disoriented and frightened. Her cabin was down the road from Ellen and Blakely.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

There was like a really loud thunder and my like whole cabin, like I think everyone woke up because it was really loud.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

I mean it sounded like people were shooting fireworks off in our cabin.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The rain was falling so hard that by 2:14am an hour after the flash flood warning, a dry creek that cut through the camp had turned into a torrent. The river Kept rising at a record rate. At 3:11am Dick Eastland and his son Edward, who was in charge of the younger campers, started evacuating the cabins closest to the river. About 10 minutes later, it was Lucy's

[Interviewer / Reporter]

cabin's turn when the water started coming up. Was anybody giving you instructions as to what to do?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Our counsel said to grab like, maybe like a pillow and blanket just in case we had to sleep in like a water and a flashlight. And then they told us to be strong and go to the wreck. And then they went after us.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

At 3:26am a counselor snapped this photo. Girls from Lucy's cabin struggling through rising waters to reach the two story rec hall.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

How strong was the water?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Really strong.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

I mean, was it pulling at you or pulling at things around you?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Were you able to stay close to your friends?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Yeah.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Ainslie saw Lucy's group race by her cabin and wondered, as a counselor, what she should do.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

The girls are either running from their cabins or they're being taken in a Suburban in a truck through the main road. And I remember listening through the window and we're being told to stay in our cabin. Stay in our cabin, stay in our cabin. I see the water pouring into our cabin. Without a second thought, girls, put on your shoes and grab a rain jacket and we're leaving.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Ainsley tried to open the door.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

When the water came through the door, it literally swept me off my feet. And I remember slamming the door somehow and just being in a state of what now? And at this time, a worker from the camp had come up to our window.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

It was Edward Eastland, her camp director.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

They had said to me, this is crazy. This is crazy. I don't know what to do. I remember thinking in my mind, you don't know what to do. I have 16 little girls behind me, and I'm just as afraid as they are.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

They decided to go through the window. Edward helped them break out one of the screens, then rush to evacuate another cabin.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

And we get the first girl to get through the window and thank God that she was too afraid to jump through the window first. So without a second thought, I jumped out of the window to grab her and just put her and show her that it was okay. And that is when I realized how fast, high and rapid the water was moving. I mean, it was rushing just enough to easily swipe a little girl off of her feet and take her away from us. It was terrifying.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Fear was about to turn into a race for survival. Ainsley and two other counselors were trying to Save their eight to ten year old campers in the biggest flood Camp mystic had ever seen. When they started passing them through their cabin window, the water was almost knee high and rising fast.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

I mean, I would carry three of them at a time, as many as I possibly could. And we saw this pavilion in higher ground to our cabin. And we all made trip after trip after trip until all of the girls were out of our cabin and up to the pavilion. And we were able to look back on our cabin. You could already see water rushing through the windows and pouring into the cabin from every angle.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

But soon the water reached the pavilion. There was no way out other than a steep hill behind them.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

It was a very steep, steep climb and with the rain coming down, it was almost a waterfall. So we would walk the girls up and do a quick head count of them and we would just yell prayers over them and just continue, continue to climb the hill. And each time the water would rise,

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

what was happening below them seemed incomprehensible.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

The lightning would strike and it would kind of light up just a very like narrow viewpoint for you. And you would just see just the destruction that this water was causing to our sanctuary. You are seeing trunks float down the river. You're seeing cars fly by you, you're hearing the trees snap. I mean it sounds like they're exploding.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The most horrific sounds though were the voices.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

You're hearing screams of names. You're hearing screams for help over and over and over again.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Some of the screams for help were coming from Twins cabins where Blakely was trapped. A worker on the second floor of the commissary shot this video of twins cabins at 3:26am Several feet of water swirling below the windows. 24 minutes later, the cabins were almost entirely submerged. The situation at Ellen's Cabin Bubble Inn was just as dire. Around 3:35am Dick Eastland arrived and began moving girls into his truck. Fifteen minutes later, he radioed Edward for help. I have bubble in cabin in my car, he pleaded. I'm stuck against a tree. Then at 3:58am a worker who was trapped on the second floor of the commissary made a call to 91 1.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

We don't know what to do.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Okay?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Right now the best thing I can

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

tell you is to get to as

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

higher ground as you can.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

I know it's not the most ideal.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

We cannot, there's water everywhere.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

We cannot move, okay? We are like upstairs in a room. And the,

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

the water was also rising at rec hall where Lucy was.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

We were on the bottom floor and then we had to move to the top floor because it was getting higher.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

What did you hang onto?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

So we didn't really, like, hang on to anything. The water was, like, about right here. And then we just stayed on the second floor until it went down.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

That happened just before 6am the water slowly receding, Ainslie and her campers worked their way back to the pavilion. At the bottom of the hill, a truck was dropping off several girls from twins cabins who had been swept into the current and survived by clinging for hours to a branch of an uprooted tree.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

You just run out and you grab these little girls who look like a ghost, and you just hug them and say, it's okay. It's okay. Like, you're safe. We have you.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

And that wasn't the only survival story Ainslie learned. Another group trapped in their cabin stayed afloat on mattresses, the rising water stopping just as they reached the ceiling.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

And at this point, the sky starts to lighten, and it's morning time. And so your vision is just slowly getting better, and you're seeing more and more, and your heart is breaking at every instant.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Everyone assembled at rec hall, where Edward's wife was leading a headcount.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

And so, one by one, each cabin is called to the front of rec hall, where Mary Liz has a roster sheet and is going. Each girl one by one, calling their name out, laying eyes on them, making sure that they're there.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Sixteen campers and counselors from twins cabins were present. But when Edwards wife called the names of Blakely and 10 other cabin mates, there was no response.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

And that was the first realization of there are girls missing. We're the fourth cabin in that line of the youngest girls, and we're just watching them in complete and utter disbelief and shock.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Then they called Ellen's cabin Bubba Inn.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

I don't think I'll ever forget the moment when the head count was done and Bubblyn was called, and they weren't there. Not a single girl was there.

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[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Kerr County 911.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

Why is the location in your emergency?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

We're going to die.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

I have an infant.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

He can't hold her breath.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In the early morning hours of July 4, emergency services up and down the Guadalupe river in Kerr county were overwhelmed with calls for help.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

I need help because I can't swim

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

and it's getting dangerous and I can't get out. Overnight the river ran rose a record 37ft. Experts would call it a one in a thousand year flood. It was 7:22am when one of the Eastlands called 911 for the first time here at Camp Mistick and Hunt, Texas. We need search and rescue.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Okay, what's going on?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

We're missing as many as 20 to 40 people. Win Kennedy, who is Lucy's mom, lives about 10 miles from Camp Mystic. On July 4, she woke up to text messages from panicked parents asking about their daughters.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

Since I'm local, they were texting me about the flood. And my response was I'm not even worried about them. They're in the safest place they can be. And I didn't know how bad it was or how severe it was.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Fortunately, Lucy was okay.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

I was able to get through to certain people because I know a lot of people in the community. So I know I was able to find out Lucy was safe.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Hundreds of miles away in Houston. There was no sign of the storm. The Gettens planned to celebrate the holiday with a nice dinner and fireworks. They were caught off guard when a camp representative called them. Ellen was missing. Jenny texted one of the camp directors.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

I said, where's ellen? She said, I don't know. I said, what do you mean you don't know? And she said that the entire cabin is missing. And they were with one of the other heads of leadership.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

That was dick eastland, a man they trusted.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We were told that dick was with them, so we thought he was just in a place where he didn't have cell service.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

We packed an overnight bag and got in the car Thinking that we were going to pick up our girls.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

You know, death didn't even cross my mind.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

That changed when they arrived at a local elementary school where rescuers brought campers to be reunited with their families.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

I heard one of the other dads say, we've got some bad news here. And at that same time, I was hearing about human bodies in the river, and then it was kind of like literally being shot in the chest. She was like, what?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Another parent told them that their daughter gwen was safe. They soon spotted her, Traumatized and terrified about her sister.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

She was hysterical, and she dropped to her knees and screamed, I don't want to be an only child.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

And what do you say as a parent?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We said, calm down. She's fine. She's strong. She's a strong swimmer. You know, they're gonna find her.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

By nightfall, all the campers and counselors from bubble inn Were still unaccounted for. So were 11 from twins, cabins one and two, and one from another cabin. 27 girls in all. Their families were brought to a nearby church and told to wait for news.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

The parents would sit together in rows, and we would hold hands together. When you started hearing the parents getting the news to go to the morgue, and you heard their screams, that's something you can't unhear.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

You'd hear their wailing, and then us. We as parents would start to just erupt with uninhibited emotion, Just fear.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Later that night, they heard that rescuers had located dick eastland's truck In a grove by the river near the camp, Inside the bodies of dick and three bubble inn girls, but not ellen.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We cried on our knees and prayed to God that she was out there and clinging on and holding on.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Blakely's mom, lindsey, had been on vacation overseas when she heard blakeley was missing.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

We went to the airport, got on the flight. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Still hopeful, she arrived at the church two days after the flood. But then a texas ranger asked for her DNA.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

That's when I realized that she might not have made it out alive from this flood.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Searchers found Blakely's body the next day. She was still wearing a necklace. Her mother

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I gave her this necklace before camp that says mystic and it's in the colors of the camp. Green and white.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Meant a lot to both of you.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

It did.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Lindsay had lost so much that year. Her husband, her brother, and now her precious 8 year old daughter gone in the spot she hoped would be a refuge.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

It was going to be a place of healing for her, but it actually became a place of death for her too.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

As Lindsey was coming to grips with the worst of news, Houston firefighter Tyler Graff and his rescue dog Truckee arrived in town to join the search efforts.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

The aftermath was pretty awe inspiring. Shocking smells of disaster, smells of decomposition, canoes in the trees. When you come down into the basin, it's like entering a whole other realm. It's somber and it's full of sadness. By the time you got here, were

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

you on a search and rescue mission

[Interviewer / Reporter]

or just a search mission, search and recovery? By the time that we were searching, we weren't looking for live victims.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

About a week after the flood, on a muddy bank across the river, Tyler found a single crock charm still attached. Flowers, a cupcake, a name tag. Ellen Getten.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

We found it right here on this point on this other side here. It was a very somber moment and we knew that this crock had some sort of story to it.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The story of a nine year old girl whose family was desperately waiting to hear what happened to her. The days immediately after the flood were a blur for Jenny and Doug Getten as they waited for word about Ellen. Knowing but not knowing.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

We waited a week and, and that whole week Gwen was so hopeful that there was some way that she had made it through. And the reality is there was no hope.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

They got the call on July 12.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

A Texas Ranger called us and said, we have her body. We have Ellen's body.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We weren't allowed to see her because she'd been in the water for so long and that haunts me every single day.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

None of the 27 missing Camp mystic campers and counselors survived. They're known as heaven's 27.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

38 kids lost their sisters. 51 parents lost daughters that day.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The funerals went on for days. When Ellen was laid to rest, 11 year old Gwen eulogized her.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

It does not matter if you have known Ellen for nine years or nine

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

days because just by looking at her beautiful face, you can tell how kind and sweet and amazing she is. One of the things I Love about Ellen is her funny laugh. She was always so creative in the most hilarious ways.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

Gwen spoke and did an incredible job to honor her sister. And it was awful. I mean, you talk about nightmare. We're in this massive church that probably holds 1600 people and how are we here?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Afterwards, the Getten struggled to go on.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

It's like an amputation. You're walking around without part of you and you have to learn something somehow to continue with life. Missing a whole, you know, piece of it.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In their Houston home, the Gettons surrounded themselves with reminders of Ellen and held on to the letters she wrote before she died.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

When we got home on July 6, we had some letters waiting for us.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

They're still sealed. We can't bring ourselves to open them up. We're not ready to do that yet.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

I think opening them seems like more of a permanent and I'm not there yet.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Blakely's mom knew she had to keep the memory of her 8 year old daughter alive somehow. She vowed to talk about Blakely whenever she could.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

She just was a ton of fun. She would always play practical jokes on us. One time she put her pet box turtle in my purse. She was a young girl, but had an old soul. She even asked me at one point before camp if I would date again because she wanted to have a stepfather. She just had such a big heart.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The mystic community was also mourning its patriarch, Dick Eastland.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

When we found out about all of the deaths and then we found out about Dick's passing, it was a little piece of the camp dying and mystic is such a special place to me. So that was such a hard pill to swallow.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Her nightmares are never ending. So is her guilt.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

Finding out that girls did not make it and that I had

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

is a

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

survivor's guilt that I can't even explain in words because why am I here and others are not.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Ainsley says the kindness of others helped her get through the bad days.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

I know you wanted me.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Kindness helped Blakely's mom too, along with videos of her daughter that she watched on repeat.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

Pink Pony Club. I'm gonna keep on doing.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Have you been able to go into her room?

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

Yes, I've gone in her room. I've even slept in her bed. It's a way for me to hold onto those memories. When we used to read in her bed, she was doing little projects in her room playing I definitely don't shut the door to her room and I'm not putting my heart on a shelf per se.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

After their lives were shattered, came the questions we brought these mothers together to ask what they learned when they went digging.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Could this tragedy have been averted?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

100% foreign.

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[911 Operator / Interviewer]

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[Interviewer / Reporter]

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[Narrator / Lester Holt]

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[911 Operator / Interviewer]

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[Narrator / Lester Holt]

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[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

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[911 Operator / Interviewer]

I'm Natalie Landry and my daughter is Lainey. I'm Wendy Childress and my daughter is Chloe.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

I'm Patricia Bellows and my daughter is Margaret.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I'm Ellen Sheedy and my daughter is Margaret Sheedy.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

I'm Sam Jacoby and my daughter's Mary Kate Jacovi.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I'm Andrea Furuzzo and my daughter's Katherine Ferruzzo.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

I'm Ellen Tronzo and my daughter is Greta Tronzo.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

These Houston moms all lost daughters at Camp Mystic. They've leaned on each other ever since Ellen's mom, Jenny Gittin, gathered them at her house.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

These people are really the only ones who truly understand what I went through.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I don't think anyone can relate to what we've experienced except for the other 26 families. I have trouble relating to my best friends prior to July 4, hearing about their busy lives, their carpools. That's not my life anymore.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Nothing is the same after.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

There's the before and then there's the after.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

Because the person you were before is gone.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

That person is dead.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

They're haunted by questions about that night.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

There's a desperate need to know. What did you go through? Were you alone? Were you with someone? Were you afraid? Was it fast?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

And they say the Eastlands, the family they trusted to keep their girls safe, remained virtually silent after the flood.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We've never received a debrief, if you will.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

So they've never gathered you together as a group?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

No, they've never called us.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

A personal condolence note here, a text with a Bible verse there.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Lovely. But not what you're looking for.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

Not what we're looking for, not the answers that we need.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In the absence of those answers, these parents decided to dig for the facts on their own, talking to as many people as they could. And what they found only deepened their anguish.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Could this tragedy have been averted?

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

100%, yes.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

Our girls should be here with the time frame. There is time for them all, the

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

whole camp, to evacuate safely.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

They compiled a timeline that raised troubling questions about what the Eastlands did and didn't do that night.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

A little bit after 1am There was a flash flood warning issued that, you know, flooding possible, you know, casualties as a result of flooding.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

That warning came at 1:14am The National Weather Service saying a life threatening flash flood was imminent or already underway.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

They never made an announcement on the loudspeaker and two counselors had to go argue with leadership because water was coming in their cabins.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

To the best of our knowledge, they didn't start moving girls until after 3 o' clock in the morning. So they waited roughly two hours.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Not only was there a two hour delay, they say the camp was unprepared for what was coming.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I'd like to know why didn't they have an evacuation plan for flooding, which was their most logical natural disaster?

[Interviewer / Reporter]

But you're saying there was no. There was no protocol.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

The protocol was correct. The protocol was to stay in the

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

cabin, even though the two story recall and safety was only a short walk from their cabins.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

It was extremely poor decision making that we believe led to our children's deaths.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

When they read the emergency instructions in the counselor's manual that Andrea Ferruzzo found in her daughter's belongings, they were flabbergasted.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

It said, stay in your cabins. An announcement will be made on the loudspeaker and if the loudspeaker is not working, we'll use walkie talkies. And I talked to other counselors who said there were no walkie talkies. And then the final sentence in this flood evacuation plan says all cabins are on high safe locations. And we all just were reeling.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Ainsley confirmed she never saw walkie talkies in the cabins and had no emergency training in case of a flood.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

It didn't feel like there was a big pressure to be this, like, guardian and all of these things. Like, I was just a counselor for these girls, and we were going to have a great term and have fun together.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In late September, less than three months after the tragedy, Camp mystic announced it would reopen for the 2026 summer season, although the cabins where the victims had been staying would remain closed.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

Did it shock you completely?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

You can't put your child in the same care of the Eastland family when we don't even know what happened yet and everything that went wrong.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

It's unthinkable that they would open a camp so soon after 27 people died on their watch. You know, there's still one camper missing. Seal steward. She's not been recovered yet.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

This isn't over, right?

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The parents were so outraged, they demanded the state deny Mystic a license for the 2026 season.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

What is the rush?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

It shows that they want profit over camp safety. For right now, mystic has said that it is their Christian ministry to provide an environment for girls to grow spiritually and make lifelong friendships. And that is wonderful, but that does no good if your child doesn't come home alive.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In October, Texas lawmakers are opened an investigation into what happened at Camp Mystic. Weeks later, most of the victim's families, including many here and Blakely's mom, filed lawsuits against the camp and the Eastlands.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

What do you want the lawsuit to accomplish?

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

I want the lawsuit to, you know, show transparency. What would happen all the events leading up to this tragedy, as well as accountability.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

What is it that you allege?

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

We allege that there was gross negligence.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Their lawsuits point to something else, too. The Eastlands successfully appealed to FEMA to have cabins in a flood hazard area reclassified. And then the lawsuits say the Eastlands failed to share that information with with parents.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

There was a known flooding risk that was very well known to the Eastland family who runs the camp. There was no disclosure or communication to us.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

What would the Eastlands have to say about that night? It was absolute chaos.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

It was not absolute chaos. You had no plan. That's not true.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The bereaved families waited eight months to hear an explanation about the tragedy from the Eastlands. Finally, in the spring, Eastland family members testified at pre trial hearings. Edward Eastland, who was responsible for the cabins near the river, spent hours answering questions like this one about that early morning warning.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

You got a 114 code red that you slept through, right? Correct.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

And this, you did not get on

[Interviewer / Reporter]

the loudspeaker and tell anybody what to do, correct? No, we didn't.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The attorney who was representing the family of Seal Stewart, the camper whose body has still not been recovered, was scathing about the Eastlands actions that night.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

It was absolute chaos. It was not absolute chaos. You had no plan. That's not true. You had no plan. Your dad was making it up in the moment. He was not. Who was? Who had the plan? He did. Who knew the plan? I did. There was no plan that anyone was trained in. We didn't have it written down, but

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

we have that plan.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Days later, at a Texas legislature hearing, Edward apologized for the Deaths of the 27 girls.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

The world was a better place with them in it. And the anger at us for not being able to keep them safe feels completely reasonable.

[Jenny Getten (Ellen's Mom)]

When I first saw Edward Eastland, I started sobbing because I realized that he was the one who was in charge of my children's safety. And he failed them. It was my first time to hear from him at all.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The Eastlands are challenging the narrative of what led to the girls deaths here at camp. Missed it. They say it wasn't the rising river or allegations that they waited too long to act.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

The river did not kill these young ladies.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The family declined our interview request. Instead, we got their attorney, Michael Watts.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

The problem was is that where this particular weather system stalled led to flood coming behind, not from the river, but from the other direction.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Watts told us the video shot from the second floor of the commissary supports their case. He says it shows water from the hillside inundating the cabins.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

And you can see in the video that the water's coming this way, but the river's in the opposite direction. It's real easy to reach the conclusion that what's been alleged, that somehow the water rose from the river, just truthfully did not happen.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Your data says it didn't happen.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

It's not just my data. It is what the digital evidence shows.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Weather experts we consulted, including the National Weather Service, disputed that explanation. They say the flood was caused by the rising river and that's what created the eddies and swirls in the video and about Those appeals to FEMA to remove buildings from the flood hazard area.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

You knew that the cabins, though were on a floodplain.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

No, they're not. That's not true.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Watts says updated digital maps showed the buildings were not in fact in the floodplain. And FEMA agreed.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

The bottom line is that's in the press and somehow Dick Eastland had this unusual political ability to tell FEMA what to do. That's not the way it works.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

After the tragedy, FEMA said its maps are snapshots in time and not predictions of where floods will happen. Watts says nothing could have prepared the Eastlands for what was coming, not even that early morning warning.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

We get flash flood warnings in Kerr county repetitively. Every time it rains, there's a risk of flash floods. But that's not the same thing as what happened here. This was a thousand year flood that nobody's ever seen before.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

But why not a specific flood policy?

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

We do, we have a specific flood policy. Stay in the cabins until help can come and help you. Hundreds of girls lives were saved by that policy.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

So you're making an argument for keeping them inside the cabins during this kind of rain event.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

It's called shelter in place.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Watts argues it wouldn't have made sense for the youngest campers to walk through the raging waters because they would have been washed away.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Would that have happened had they responded immediately to that warning at 1:14am?

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

So the warning at 1:14 is a text that certain people didn't get. But the problem is it wasn't delivered. There was no siren.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

The Eastlands blamed the state for that because almost a decade ago, lawmakers refused to fund a flood detection system with sirens.

[Michael Watts (Eastland Family Attorney)]

What you need is you need things upstream that says we've got a wall of water coming and immediately activate a siren that's going to wake up everybody here. That would have given them the time. That would have saved the lives and it would have saved all the lives downriver.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

All told, more than 130 people died along the Guadalupe that night. Ainslie, who led her campers to safety, has struggled with the question of blame.

[Ainslie Bishara (Counselor)]

It's easy to look and point a finger to ease your mind. I don't think there's one finger that we can point. I don't think that's fair.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Lucy's mom, Win, agrees with Ainsley.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

It's just, it's just not black and white. I do personally know how this camping community works. You know, their lives were this camp and they did everything, you know, they could. And yes, there have been floods in the past. But nothing ever towards any of those cabins ever.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Wynn, along with hundreds of other parents, was planning to send Lucy back to Mystic.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Some kids might think it's scary going back, you know, after the flood. Do you worry at all?

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

I just feel like that's not going to happen again and it wasn't their fault that it happened but.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

In late April, the Eastlands abruptly decided not to reopen the camp.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Welcome everyone.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Today we will hear from the investigators. Last week, investigators from the state legislative committee reported back after an eight month probe. Their findings confirmed what many of the victim's parents had come to believe. Camp mystic did not have written emergency plans that complied with state requirements, did not adequately prepare and did not timely evacuate despite ample opportunity to do so.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

The distances were very short. And especially with the timeline that we've documented about how much time there was

[Commercial Narrator]

to evacuate, these girls could have gotten there.

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

Days after that report came out, Camp mystic filed for bankruptcy. As the fourth of July approaches, the first anniversary of the tragedy, these parents take comfort from from a new camp safety act they helped push through the state legislature. But otherwise comfort is elusive for the heavens. 27 families.

[Gwynne Getten (Ellen's Sister)]

It's the permanence that's shattering and it just doesn't stop.

[Lindsey McCrory (Blakely's Mom)]

We have gone through hell and back and we're still going through through it every, every day. You know, we have to make a choice to go on.

[Lucy Kennedy (Camper)]

I heard that there's a special place

[Narrator / Lester Holt]

their questions remain, their lawsuits are pending and there's a huge hole in their lives that their girls used to fill. That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.

[911 Operator / Interviewer]

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[Interviewer / Reporter]

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[Narrator / Lester Holt]

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[911 Operator / Interviewer]

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[Narrator / Lester Holt]

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