Jenna Bush Hager mourns Texas flooding victims: 'Our hearts are heavy'
"We have to start just saying our hearts are heavy this morning thinking of my home state of Texas. Obviously there (was) devastating flooding," Bush Hager somberly said on "Today with Jenna and Friends" on July 7. Heavy rainfall overwhelmed the Guadalupe River last week, sending floodwaters roaring through homes and area summer camps.
The death toll rose to at least 110, including at least 27 children and counselors from the beloved Camp Mystic in Kerr County, where flooding hit the hardest beginning July 4. Bush Hager explained her connection to the nearly 100-year-old nondenominational Christian camp for girls.
She told guest co-host Dwayne Wade that her mom, former first lady Laura Bush, was a counselor at Camp Mystic and that many of her friends attended the camp. "It is a place that raised so many girls to become women, and it was almost like a spiritual, beautiful place," she added.
Harrowing stories of survival: Clinging to trees, huddling on rooftops amid Texas floods
She reflected, "I think as parents, we think about the horror of sending our kids to a place that's supposed to be — and is — healing and fun and joyful and all the things that kids deserve to have, and then something like this (happened)."
Bush Hager, 43, revealed she had just dropped off her kids "at another camp in Texas" and described "putting them on the bus and saying goodbye to them" as an emotional experience. She shares daughters Mila, 12, and Poppy, 9, as well as her son, Hal, 5, with husband Henry Chase Hager.
"I know so many parents whose kids are at camp or going to camp feel that way. We send our kids into the world with the faith that they can have happy lives, joyful lives, and as adults we know pain," the TV host said. "We hope that our kids never face it."
"But Texas is a resilient, incredible state," she continued. "And it always is in my heart."
Wade, who has five children, three of whom are adults, also empathized with Bush Hager.
"Just as parents, there are certain places that we send our kids, (and) we feel those are places of safety for them ... because we know the growth and evolution that happens at these places," the former NBA star said. "But tragedy also occurs, and it's so unfortunate."
Jenna, sister Barbara chat about their grandparents, raising kids
Bush Hager also praised people's generosity during the time of grief.
"The stories that I heard over the last couple of days were beautiful and heartbreaking," she explained. "Texas has a type of resilience where they're generous people, where people want to reach out and help."
Bush Hager directed viewers to the American Red Cross to find ways to help.
Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, Jeanine Santucci, and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY
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