28 August 2017 | 1:46 pm
Seniors at a Texas nursing home were rescued Sunday after a dramatic image of elderly residents sitting in waist-deep floodwaters went viral.
The photo was taken inside La Vita Bella assisted living home in Dickinson located just southeast of Houston.
Kim McIntosh told NBC News her mother runs the facility. McIntosh, who lives in Florida, said she received the photo early Sunday from her mother, Trudy Lampson, after she inquired about their safety as Harvey continued to ravage Houston.
Harvey, which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston and surrounding towns on Sunday. The rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with the constant calls for help, The Associated Press reported.
McIntosh’s husband, Timothy McIntosh, determined their best hope to get help to the nursing home would be to post the photo online. He tweeted the photo just before 10 a.m. ET Sunday, along with a desperate plea for help.
“La vita Bella nursing home in Dickinson Texas is almost underwater with nursing home patients,” the first tweet read. “Need help asap emergency services please RETWEET,” McIntosh wrote a few minutes later.
Need help asap emergency services please RETWEET pic.twitter.com/LesxeaIHNm
— Timothy J. McIntosh (@DividendsMGR) August 27, 2017
The now-viral photo showed at least six residents submerged in murky floodwaters.
After some Twitter users questioned the validity of the photo, McIntosh fired back, noting his mother-in-law was among those trapped in need of help.
“What we need is help not doubters. This involves our own family. We are in Fl.,” McIntosh wrote.
What we need is help not doubters. This involves our own family. We are in FL. Thank you all for re-tweeting #HoustonFlood@MayraABC13
— Timothy J. McIntosh (@DividendsMGR) August 27, 2017
Galveston Office of Emergency Services spokeswoman Brittany Viegas confirmed to NBC News that 15 people were rescued from La Vita Bella nursing home on Sunday.
McIntosh thanked the Galveston OEM and the National Guard for their rescue efforts and “all the true believers that retweeted and got the news organizations involved. It pushed La Vita Bella to #1 on the priority list,” he tweeted.
Published 39 minutes ago | Updated 3 minutes ago