DICKINSON, Texas -- Residents at a nursing home trapped in rising flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey were airlifted to safety Sunday afternoon in Dickinson, Texas.
A disturbing photo posted on social media Sunday morning shows the seniors sitting in wheelchairs and recliners as the water rises inside the La Vita Bella nursing home on Oak Drive.
"Need help asap emergency services please RETWEET," Timothy McIntosh posted on Twitter at 9:56 a.m.
After some people on social media questioned the validity of the photo, McIntosh fired back that his mother-in-law owns the facility.
"What we need is help not doubters. This involves our own family," McIntosh posted.
Kimberly McIntosh told theGalveston County Daily Newsthat her mother sent her the photo at 9 a.m.
“She said it was a disaster and they were hoping the national guard would come,”Kimberly McInstosh said.
McIntosh toldthe New York Daily News that 20 residents live at the facility and that officials told her mother, Trudy Lampson, not to evacuate Saturday since flooding had never before been an issue.
"It's never even flooded past the sidewalk,"Kimberly McIntosh told the Daily News. "No one asked her to evacuate, but she has evacuation plans to leave."
Donna Joy posted a photo of the flooding she said was taken less than a mile away from the facility.
City officials told the Galveston County Daily Newsthat 15 seniors were rescued from the home via helicopter.
“We were air-lifting grandmothers and grandfathers,” David Popoff, Dickinson's emergency management coordinator, told the newspaper.
By 1:11 p.m., McIntosh posted that the residents had been rescued.
"Thank you to the National Guard & the Galveston City Emergency crew for our rescue," TimothyMcIntosh posted on Twitter.
