'My daughter was stolen from us': Texas parents who lost children in Camp Mystic flooding speak at hearing

ABC ^ | 8/20/25 | Bill Hutchison

[DallasBiff]

The parents of children who were among the 27 killed at Camp Mystic on Texas' Guadalupe River during the historic Fourth of July flash flooding that devastated the Hill Country region gave emotional testimony on Wednesday before a state legislative committee probing the disaster.

A coalition of Camp Mystic parents testified before the Texas Senate Disaster Preparedness and Flooding Select Committee, which is considering reforms to increase safety at youth camps across the state.

Cici Williams Steward told the committee that her 8-year-old daughter, Cile Steward, is the only Camp Mystic camper still missing, and one of two flood victims that remain unaccounted for in the wake of the disaster.

"Three generations of women in my family went to Camp Mystic. This year, it was finally Cile's turn. She was 8 years old, going for the very first time, her heart full of excitement to join the tradition of her mother, her aunt and her grandmother, her great aunt and five cousins," Steward told the panel. "For Cile, camp meant adventure, memories, friendships, and lessons to carry for a lifetime. For me, it meant watching my child grow and learn, but always under the assurance that she would be safe."

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Californian conservatives do not have tribalist goggles and PRIDE blinding us to our government’s failures because all our leaders are so beyond left-leaning and incompetent, it’s far easier to point out their failings.

CHRISTIANS need to be critical including of leaders who identify with us on most things politically otherwise. There was a lot of corruption at play in Texas. A lot of exposure of misdeeds and misplaced priorities. And the consequences are being reaped.

[Jane Long]

Ha! Who the heck are YOU to say any of that?

Thanks for exposing your true colors, though.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

As far as laying out what needs to be done:

“Yet periodic attempts to adopt a more modern flood-monitoring system, including one with warning sirens that might have alerted campers last week, repeatedly failed to gain traction – stalled by low budgets, some local opposition and a lack of state support.” - Curt Devine & Casey Tolan

And I posted the bullet points from Florida’s budget as a good list of priorities to follow for Emergency Preparedness and Extreme Weather:

$505 million and 15 FTE are provided to the Division of Emergency Management in the current year to ensure Florida stands ready to enforce President Trump’s Illegal Immigration policies.

$1.24 billion in federal and state funding so that Florida communities and the state can respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies and mitigate against future disasters or emergencies.

$43 million for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Swift Current Program to reduce or eliminate repetitive flood damage to buildings insured through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to rebuild more flood-resistant buildings.

$8.2 million for the continued design, development, testing and application of the Division of Emergency Management Enterprise Solution (DEMES), a state-of-the-art information technology platform that provides seamless and expedited processing of FDEM’s emergency response and everyday business activities.

$4 million for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program to enhance and expand the ability for research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience.

$3.6 million for the continued maintenance and advancement of information technology utilized by the State Emergency Operations Center to efficiently coordinate and deploy resources when responding to an emergency.

$3.2 million to support the sustainment of the Statewide WebEOC initiative, a technological solution that allows counties, local municipalities and other entities to coordinate and respond to emergencies impacting Florida.

https://www.floridadisaster.org/news-media/news/20250204/

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Take your conclusions to God, I know of parents who’ve lost children to preventable causes. I would never choose political ally-ship over objective appraisal of what happened.

[Jane Long]

And, YOU do the same.

And, your projection. He will listen and lift your burden.

Have a good evening.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

There was failure both at the preventative level and the response level in the Texas Hill Country on those fateful days. And many lives were lost. Very little organized coordination. I don’t know why that’s so offensive for you to just acknowledge.

[waterhill]

There are surefire and inexpensive ways to monitor river gpm, way up river, mostly red tape to get it done.

Lots of money generated on the Guad. Lots.
What’s a few deaths every so.e odd years? /s

[CondoleezzaProtege]

He kept the camp open for years and championed flood protection and prevention, survived even having to airlift his own wife through one, but dropped the ball as he aged. And so did the local authorities.

[No name given]

Well said.

[waterhill]

It kinda already is.

[rollo tomasi]

Creating infrastructure in river basin is a high reward and high risk venture. Should Texas and other States create laws to prevent living accommodations as well as commerce infrastructures around river basin from being constructed?

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Forgot to include. This sums it all up:

Periodic attempts to adopt a more modern flood-monitoring system, including one with warning sirens that might have alerted campers last week, repeatedly failed to gain traction – stalled by low budgets, some local opposition and a lack of state support.

- Curt Devine & Casey Tolan

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It’s been 25 years since I was on it. I am sure it has become less wild. Shame.

[DallasBiff]

So you could predict the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

An earthquake in Japan does less damage than in Haiti because first world countries can prepare and mitigate beforehand that’s the point. And flood prevention and prediction is far more manageable than tsunami/quakes.

Lord have mercy. Is this a Texas pride thing?! I don’t have these tribalist blinders sorry so it’s hard for me to comprehend the spirit at work in your culture. But if this is how TX operates, thank God Trump is president, lest you reject federal aid too — from pride.

[DallasBiff]

An earthquake in Japan does less damage than in Haiti because first world countries can prepare and mitigate beforehand that’s the point. And flood prevention and prediction is far more manageable than tsunami/quakes.

Lord have mercy. Is this a Texas pride thing?! I don’t have these tribalist blinders sorry so it’s hard for me to comprehend the spirit at work in your culture. But if this is how TX operates, thank God Trump is president, lest you reject federal aid too — from pride

So Japan a first world country lost almost 20,000 people in 2011, even with the best tsunami warning infrastructure in the world, are they prideful.

Some acts of nature(god) cannot be explained or prevented.

[HonkyTonkMan]

This was a 1 in 100 year flood.

1987 and 2025

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Sorry false equivalency. Flood and Tsunami are not the same things. Texas had way more opportunities on the years leading up AND in real time. And history will rightly judge. And the parents already have and know it and I pray God eases their suffering.

[DallasBiff]

Sorry false equivalency. Flood and Tsunami are not the same things

Really? Which one doesn't involve rapidly rushing water that causes devastation.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Tsunami and Earthquakes are harder to predict and can’t be forecast the same a storm can…

Dick Eastland not lost precious hours after getting the warnings. But he dropped the ball in the latter years of running the camp when earlier he was on top of flood preparedness. And this is symbolic of the complacency of not only Texas but many US states.