Former camper remembers Camp Mystic
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Hero Texas camp director Richard “Dick” Eastland battled floods for decades and even saw his pregnant wife once airlifted off the grounds to a hospital because of a deluge.
Camp Mystic co-owner Dick Eastland, described as "one of the most selfless men," reportedly died trying to rescue campers from catastrophic flooding.
The duo offered a place where parents knew their daughters would be enriched and happy. During the tragic floods, Dick Eastland died trying to save them.
Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic's buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found.
Eastland, 70, was the camp director and bought the camp in 1974. When floodwaters swept through his Christen summer camp, he tried to save the lives of his young campers and gave his life in the process, Fox News reported. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) wrote of Eastland’s devotion to the camp.