A Houston radio host struggled to get through a segment Tuesday as a tragedy tied closely to the city took center stage again.
The ongoing legal fight between camp owners and victims’ families has brought new testimony into focus, including from camp director Edward Eastland. He said staff did not see official warnings ahead of the storm, held no meetings about the threat and delayed evacuation as conditions worsened.
He acknowledged more could have been done, but said the severity of the flooding was not anticipated. At one point, he broke down while speaking about 8-year-old Cecilia “Cile” Steward, the only camper whose body has not been found, and about his attempts to save children that night. His father, Dick Eastland, 70, died during rescue efforts.
The courtroom has been filled with families as the hearings unfold, with testimony revisiting decisions made as conditions worsened and floodwaters began to rise.
But for Christie, the details weren’t just headlines.
“There are kids a mile from this radio station who are not here anymore because they died in that flood,” she said, her voice breaking. “And their parents, with every holiday and every day off, have to live it that their children are gone and there are kids applying to go back to that camp.”
Camp Mystic has applied to reopen as soon as this summer, with plans to operate on higher ground that did not flood. Operators say nearly 900 girls have already registered.
That possibility has divided families connected to the camp, many of them in Houston communities like Memorial, Tanglewood, Bellaire and West University, where generations have sent daughters to what’s long been seen as a “home away from home.” Among those killed were campers Molly DeWitt, Anna Margaret Bellows and Lucy Dillon, along with counselor Chloe Childress, a Kinkaid School graduate.
Christie described the divide over reopening as “a Netflix special on its own,” saying she couldn’t make sense of how quickly the camp is moving forward.
Her co-host Eric Rowe agreed, adding that he would wait years before considering reopening.
As the conversation turned back to the families, Christie focused on what she said continues to haunt them most: how their children died.
“The worst part for the families is knowing when their children met their maker, it was in a terrifying, horrific way,” she said. “It wasn’t an easy death, and that is what keeps people up at night.”
She acknowledged the heaviness of the topic, but said it was one many listeners remain deeply invested in as the case unfolds.
“I know it’s serious downer news, but I wanted to give you that update because I know so many families are so invested in that story, and God rest those sweet souls of ‘Heaven’s 27.'”