As the One-Year Mark of the Deadly Texas Floods Nears, Lester Holt Reports on the Ongoing Search for Answers and Speaks with Survivors
‘After the Flood’ Airs Friday, June 26 at 10 p.m. ET
June 24, 2026 – In a Dateline exclusive, eight mothers who lost their daughters at Camp Mystic during the catastrophic floods in Texas nearly a year ago sit down with anchor Lester Holt this Friday on a special Dateline at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT. During the broadcast, entitled After the Flood, the mothers open up together for the first time about their grief, their bond, and their investigation into what happened.
In unison, the mothers tell Holt that the tragedy could have “100%” been averted and reveal that the owners of the camp, the Eastland family, remained virtually silent after the floods. Patricia Bellows, mother of Margaret, tells Holt that they “never received a debrief,” with Jennie Getten, mother of Ellen, adding, “they’ve never called us.” Reflecting on the support they have found in one another, Bellows explains that after the devastation, “the person you were before is gone. That person is dead.”
Click here to watch the exchange. The transcript of the exchange is below.
During the one-hour broadcast, the Eastlands’ attorney spoke exclusively with Holt, arguing that nothing could have prepared the owners for what unfolded. When Holt asked why there was no specific flood policy in place, attorney Mikal Watts said there was, explaining: “You stay in the cabins until help can come and help you. Hundreds of girls’ lives were saved by that policy.” When Holt pressed him on whether he was defending the decision to keep campers inside the cabins during such a severe rain event, Watts replied, “It’s called shelter in place.”
Click here to watch the exchange. The transcript of the exchange is below.
After the Flood also features interviews with Lindsey McCrory, who lost her daughter Blakely, as well as survivors of the flooding, including a 10-year-old camper and a camp counselor. The special will highlight the latest developments in the investigation, including today’s news that Camp Mystic filed for bankruptcy.
Lester Holt speaks with a group of mothers who lost their children at Camp Mystic.
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT #1
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: THESE HOUSTON MOMS ALL LOST DAUGHTERS AT CAMP MYSTIC.THEY’VE LEANED ON EACH OTHER EVER SINCE.ELLEN’S MOM, JENNIE GETTEN, GATHERED THEM AT HER HOUSE.
JENNIE GETTEN: These people are really the only ones who truly understand what I went through.
ELLEN SHEEDY: 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 4th, hearing about their busy lives, their carpools. That — that’s not my life anymore.
LESTER HOLT: Nothing is the same after.
SAM JACOBE: Correct.
WENDIE CHILDRESS: There’s the before. And then there’s the after.
PATRICIA BELLOWS: Because the person you were before is gone, that person is dead.
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: THEY’RE HAUNTED BY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT NIGHT.
WENDIE CHILDRESS: As a mother or a parent 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?
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: AND THEY SAY THE EASTLANDS — THE FAMILY THEY TRUSTED TO KEEP THEIR GIRLS SAFE — REMAINED VIRTUALLY SILENT AFTER THE FLOOD.
PATRICIA BELLOWS: We’ve never received a debrief, if you will.
LESTER HOLT: So they’ve never gathered you together as a group?
JENNIE GETTEN: No.
LESTER HOLT: And —
ELLEN TORANZO: Never.
JENNIE GETTEN: They’ve never called us.
WENDIE CHILDRESS: a personal condolence note here, a text with the Bible verse there
LESTER HOLT: Lovely, but not what you’re looking for.
WENDIE CHILDRESS: Not what we’re looking for, not the answers that we need.
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: 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.
LESTER HOLT: Could this tragedy been averted?
MOM’S IN UNISON: A hundred percent.
WENDIE CHILDRESS: Yes.
NATALIE LANDRY: Our girls should be here with the timeframe, there was time for them all, the whole camp to evacuate safely.
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT #2
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: WATTS ARGUED THAT NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED THE EASTLANDS FOR WHAT WAS COMING. NOT EVEN THAT EARLY MORNING WARNING.
MIKAL WATTS: 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. Uh, this was a 1,000-year flood that nobody’s ever seen before.
LESTER HOLT: Why not a specific flood policy?
MIKAL WATTS: We do. We have a specific flood policy. You stay in the cabins until help can come and help you. Hundreds of girls’ lives were saved by that policy.
LESTER HOLT: So you’re making an argument for keeping them inside the cabins during this kind of rain event?
MIKAL WATTS: It’s called shelter in place.
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: 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.
LESTER HOLT: Would that have happened had they responded immediately to that warning at 1:14 a.m.?
MIKAL WATTS: 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.
LESTER HOLT VOICE OVER: THE EASTLANDS BLAME THE STATE FOR THAT — BECAUSE ALMOST A DECADE AGO, LAWMAKERS REFUSED TO FUND A FLOOD DETECTION SYSTEM WITH SIRENS. MIKAL WATTS: What you need is you need things upstream that says, “We got a wall of water coming.” and immediately activate a siren that’s gonna wake up everybody here. That would’ve given ’em the time. That would’ve saved the lives. And it would’ve saved all the lives downriver
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Dominique Donahue
