Jenna Bush Hager Reveals Emotional Connection to Texas Camp Devastated by Floods

Jenna Bush Hager got teary-eyed on Today while sharing her personal connection to Camp Mystic in the wake of the devastating Texas flash floods.

“My mom [Laura Bush] was a counselor there, but also, so many of my friends were raised at this camp,” Bush Hager told Craig Melvin on the Monday, June 7, episode of the NBC morning show. “Texas camps are institutions … this camp was 100 years old, so grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there. My mom was a drama counselor there. But many of my friends were there [and] had their kids there last week. And the stories I heard over the last couple days were beautiful and heartbreaking.”

Camp Mystic revealed in a recent statement that they are “grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors” after flash floods spread across Texas over the 4th of July weekend. “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp’s website reads. “We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”

According to NBC News, over 80 people have been reported dead as the search for more survivors continues.

On Today, Bush Hager went on to call the state of Texas and its people “resilient,” as well as revealed that her three kids — Mila, 12, Poppy, 9, and Hal, 5 — are currently attending camp in her home state. “My husband [Henry Hager] said, ‘Why are we sending our kids to Texas to camp? It’s hot.’ And it’s because of the love that’s there,” she shared.

NBC

Bush Hager also praised the camp’s director, Dick Eastland, who died while saving campers from the flood waters. “That family, the Eastland family, is Texas royalty. They raise so many girls,” she told Melvin. “And his son, who has passed as well, went to Texas where I went — the University of Texas — but so many of my friends said he was their summer father. He looked out for his campers. He raised girls to be brave and loving, and his legacy will live on.”

Bush Hager later began Monday’s episode of Today With Jenna & Friends by paying tribute to those affected by the Texas floods. “As parents, we think about the horror of sending our kids to a place that is supposed to be and is healing and fun and joyful and all the things that kids deserve to have, and then something like this to happen,” she stated.

Her guest host, Dwyane Wade, agreed, adding, “As parents, there’s certain places that we send our kids and we feel those are places of safety for them, and it’s school and it’s camps, because we know the growth and evolution that happens at these places. But tragedy also occurs, and this is so unfortunate.”

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She concluded the Jenna & Friends discussion by encouraging viewers to visit the American Red Cross’ website to learn how to help those in need.

On Sunday, July 6, Bush Hager wrote via her Instagram Story that she was “broken hearted” by the floods while reposting a statement issued by her father, former President George W. Bush.

“On this day of prayer, Laura and I are holding up our fellow Texans who are hurting. We are heartbroken by the loss of life and the agony so many are feeling,” he shared via Instagram on Sunday. “Those who have lost their precious children are facing a grief no parents should ever know.”

The statement continued, “We are grateful to the first responders and volunteers who are working to find the missing and comfort the grieving at Camp Mystic and along the Guadalupe [river]. We know our words cannot help, but we believe the prayers of so many Americans will.”