And this money is important --- even in a place where lots of nonprofits are stepping up to help. It is meant to help cover costs for hotels or rent, fixing homes to make them liveable and medical and transportation needs.

Read more here: www.texastribune.org/2025/10/16/t...

A top reason people are being denied: failing to respond to the agency or voluntary withdrawal. This is happening in an area known to have spotty cell service and where not everyone may have computer or Internet access.

Another important statistic from the FEMA data: A little more than half of the Kerr County applications haven't been referred for specific funding reviews. This means hundreds remain without the federal aid they sought. It's unclear why these applications weren't referred yet.

Dillon remembered reading thousands of pages of books with his gritty, kind daughter. They played countless hands of Go Fish. “She was my best friend, my greatest contribution to society, and today I sit before you a broken man," he told the lawmakers, urging them to pass reform.

8-year-old Lucy's father Brandt Dillon: "Our world has been shattered by a tragedy that was 100% preventable." He said their family's plans for the future have been shattered by unsafe facilities, inadequate preparation, failed planning and poor execution.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt tells the parents he can't stop their horrible dreams, but legislators can act to prevent this in the future with Senate Bill 1, named the Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act. “This bill is going to pass," he promises. "These camps are going to be safe. That’s our commitment to you.”

Lacey Hollis urged legislators to enact meaningful safeguards so no other parents would experience the torture she now feels trapped in. Camp was supposed to be about dancing and wearing fake nails while learning archery. Her 8-year-old "was not protected. She was not safe."

Eight-year-old Hadley Hanna was her mother Carrie's mini-me and best friend, she said. The mother said she assured her daughter she would be safe at camp, a place for horseback rides and fishing. "I lied to her," she said. The mother identified her child by her fingernail polish.

Hunt said he felt like he failed in his duty as a father to protect Janie. But it was also clear to him: "Camp Mystic was completely unprepared for the flooding that cost my daughter her life."

Davin Hunt said 9-year-old Janie was their angel child. He said he is plagued by nightmares, trying to find his daughter, kissing her cold head after her death, wishing he would die instead of her, imagining her petrified. "I prefer not to sleep rather than have those dreams."

“This was an act of pure complacency," father Blake Bonner said. He told legislators their children were dutiful and perfect. And that these kids paid the ultimate price for doing what they were told: staying in their cabins. They were obeying a plan he said was destined to fail.

Thinking about the trauma and fear the Mystic girls experienced makes mother Caitlin Bonner feel sick, she said. Her daughter Lila's body was found 5.6 miles downriver. The mother said she will always be haunted by not knowing what she didn't know, assuming her daughter was safe.

The mother of 8-year-old Cecilia Steward, whose body is still missing, said her daughter was thrilled to make memories like other family members who went to Mystic before her. She said the camp betrayed her trust that the kids would be safe. "My daughter was stolen from us."

Nick Fang from UT Arlington tells legislators that if they do pay for flood warning systems -- which Sen. Bettencourt earlier today implied they would -- they can't just pay for up-front costs. They also need to consider recurring costs. And there will be no one-size-fits-all system for the state.

In contrast to some early comments this morning when local officials questioned if sirens would have helped in this disaster that felt like it came on so fast, Rice flood modeling and warning expert Phil Bedient tells legislators: “During major storm events every minute counts”