Speaking on behalf of his family and Camp Mystic at a state hearing Tuesday morning, Edward Eastland apologized to the families of the parents of campers and counselors who died last year in their care when a massive flood swept through the camp on July 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think about the night of the flood every moment of every day,\u201d Eastland said, choking on some of his words. \u201cWe tried our hardest that night and it wasn\u2019t enough to save your daughters. We were devastated alongside you. I regret not communicating more with each of you earlier. And I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eastland, who directed the part of the camp where 25 campers and two counselors died that night, said waking up every morning and getting through the day was hard. But he acknowledged that pain seemed like nothing compared to the pain of parents of the girls they lost. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like we have failed our parents,\u201d Eastland testified. \u201cWhen you drop your children off with us, you\u2019re putting them in our care, the same way you all surely feel when your childrens\u2019 friends sleep over at your house. You would fight for them, you would put your life on line for them to keep them safe. And if harm came to them you would be devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world was a better place with them in it,\u201d Eastland said of the girls who died, \u201cand the anger at us for not being able to keep them safe feels completely reasonable.\u201d <\/p>\n
Parents of many of the girls who died filled the Capitol hearing room where Eastland testified to lawmakers on House and Senate investigating committees that on Tuesday began the second day of their hearing about the flood. <\/p>\n
On Monday, an investigator presented a timeline<\/a> of a harried evacuation effort that morning by Edward and his father Dick Eastland, Camp Mystic\u2019s owner and executive director, who also died in the flood while trying to rescue some of the campers. <\/p>\n