Michael McCown sent his 8-year-old daughter Linnie to a summer camp in central Texas trusting she would be safe.
But that trust was tragically broken when Linnie and at least 26 other campers and counselors were killed after a catastrophic flood swept through Camp Mystic on July 4.
On Wednesday, McCown and several other parents of children who were at the nearly century-old camp for girls, which largely sits in a flood-prone area, sat before a Texas state Senate committee and called for stronger safety standards at youth camps in Texas.
“We did not send Linnie to a war zone; we sent her to camp,” said McGown, who remembered his daughter for her gentle, playful manner. “No parent should ever go through what we are living through now.”
It was the first time many of the parents spoke publicly about the death of their children and the lack of sufficient safety measures to prevent their deaths. At the hearing, the parents testified on Senate Bill 1, which aims to improve safety for youth camps across the state. Some wore buttons bearing the words “Heaven’s 27,” in commemoration of the campers who lost their lives in the tragedy.
Among the bill’s provisions are a requirement for camps to have emergency rooftop ladders in every cabin in the floodplain and flash flood evacuation plans. It also seeks to create a line of succession for local officials in the event they are absent when disaster strikes and to streamline how justices of peace report deaths.
“I told her camp was the safest place she could be and she would make new friends and learn new things. I lied to her. She not only wasn’t safe, she died,” said Carrie Hanna, mother of 8-year-old Hadley Hanna.
“Our precious, hilarious, kind, caring, silly, loving little girl who always wanted to help others, died because there was no plan, because there was no backup system or sirens, because the sweet 18- and 19-year-old counselors did not have the training they needed. Instead, they were told to stay in place, a rule that proved to be fatal,” Hanna said.
Camp Mystic said Wednesday it wasn’t prepared to comment on specific legislation, noting its “policies and practices are designed to promote a safe and supportive environment.”
“However, Camp Mystic supports legislative efforts that will make camps and communities along the Guadalupe River safer,” the camp said in a statement to CNN.
The camp’s owner and executive director Dick Eastland, who died in the flood while trying to rescue young campers, warned for decades about the hidden dangers of the Guadalupe River, CNN previously reported.
He successfully championed a new flood warning system after 10 children at a nearby camp died in a 1987 flood. That warning system, however, became antiquated and broken over the years.
At the hearing Wednesday, some lawmakers also placed blame on the camp for not doing enough to prepare for potential flooding.
“One of the biggest contributors to what we found out– and it could have been any camp, I promise you it could have been any camp– was complacency and human nature, and out of sight, out of mind,” said Republican Texas state Sen. Charles Perry, the committee’s chair.
Perry said Senate Bill 1 is the framework to prevent tragedies like Camp Mystic, but the camps will need to follow the provisions in the law.
‘She was stolen from her family,’ mother says
Parents shared stories of their children and their grief, and expressed support for the bill with many of them saying it would prevent future camp families from their children dying in a flood.
“Camps, especially those in areas that are prone to flash floods, should have adequate warning systems and not build cabins in dangerous floodplains. Period,” said Clark Baker, whose 8-year-old daughter, Mary Grace, died in the flood.
“Have a legitimate evacuation plan, know the plan, practice the plan, train workers and counselors to implement the plan,” he said.
Aside from speaking about their own children, several parents urged authorities to continue the search for Cile Steward, an 8-year-old camper who has yet to be found.
Her mother, Cece Williams Steward, said three generations of women in her family had attended Camp Mystic. It was her daughter’s first year going and it already “meant adventures, memories, friendships and lessons to carry for a lifetime,” she said.
“I was assured that her safety and the safety of all the young girls was paramount. … That assurance was betrayed. Obvious commonsense safety measures were absent. Protocols that should have been in place were ignored,” the mother said.
For Steward, summer camps in the state must be properly equipped and held accountable to protect children in the future.
“She was stolen from her family, from her future, from the world she lit up with her independence and spunk,” she added.
As he finished addressing the committee, Lars Hollis said his daughter Virginia was only 8 years old but already composed songs. Holding his cellphone next to the microphone, he played her last song and briefly held a photo of her with a trembling hand.
“Our 8-year-old daughter left earth on July 4 due to a lack of preparation, detection, training and response,” he said moments before.
CNN’s Leigh Waldman contributed to this report.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
