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Dozens of residents from assisted living facilities from Houston area evacuate to Waco

Posted at 2:53 PM, Aug 27, 2017
and last updated 2018-07-24 21:31:02-04

Residents from two assisted living facilities in Clear Lake and Cypress who evacuated on Friday are staying at the Heartis Waco assisted living facility.

According to Heartis Waco Executive Director Rheadene Weber said 38 residents from the Houston area and 16 employees from those two facilities in the Houston area have been accommodated in apartments.

"We are so blessed, these folks, these seniors are safe and well protected. They are going to be here for the long-haul so we are set up and ready to care for them. It could go into several weeks, we don't know at this point," Weber said.

Weber said she was notified about the potential evacuation of the two Heartis communities on Friday morning, and they had everything prepared for them once they arrived that night.

"We want to make sure we continue to protect them. That we have everything in place to keep them safe," Weber said. 

Heartis Clear Lake Executive Director Ben Tragethon said they started making plans in anticipation of the storm.

"We are prone to some flooding and we thought at the end of the day to keep our residents safe and comfortable, the best option was to get ahead of the storm, especially with traffic," Tragethon said.

Heartis Clear Lake Resident Robert Burch is grateful they left when they did.

"It's been very good. They've been so accommodating here. It's almost been at home," Burch said. "At my age safety is my number one concern and so I really appreciate that." 

Heartis Waco Resident Linda Diver who has been working during the evenings at the front desk to help family members connect with the evacuees said she is happy to help.

"I have family and they are close and all of these residents have families and I think it's important to keep that family relationship going," Diver said.

She said she knows they would help them if the roles were reversed.

"This is my home and I'm glad to open up to those in need," Diver said.

According to Tragethon, the Clear Lake facility had a small amount of water go into the building on Sunday. However, it only caused minimal damage.

Staff who is monitoring the conditions and safety of the building is now concerned about the rainfall within the next 48 hours. 

Tragethon said the residents will return when it's safe to do so.

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