Residents of a nursing home and a nearby neighborhood leave as a precaution as waters continue to creep higher.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published September 30, 2004
DADE CITY - Royal Oaks Nursing Center off Fort King Road evacuated its 82 residents Wednesday as floodwaters crept closer to the building.
Administrator Anita Howard said the move was precautionary.
"We're just not sure how much (the water) is going to rise," she said.
Rainfall from Tropical Storm Jeanne put the nursing home's parking lot under water, and the flooding could get worse before it gets better, said Michele Baker, the county's director of emergency management.
"From a field survey point of view, there's a whole bunch of water upstream ahead of them," Baker said.
In addition, forecasts predict rain this weekend, and the swollen Withlacoochee River has yet to crest.
Howard said the evacuation decision was made about 9 a.m. Wednesday. Throughout the day, buses and ambulances carried Royal Oaks residents to Brooksville Nursing Center.
The county supported the nursing home's decision to evacuate.
"We believe it's a smart decision," Baker said. "It's one thing to leave people behind in water who are able bodied. When you have infirm, disabled people, you have the possibility of them being trapped in the water - (evacuating) is a wise precaution."
In nearby Hickory Hill Acres, several residents abandoned their homes because of the rising water.
Phyllis Lavelle, along with her husband and 11-year-old son, had to leave their Moore Drive house. They plan to stay with her mother in Fisherman's Cove, as long as they can in the senior community.
She said the water, which had reached her yard and back porch Tuesday, got too close for comfort.
"The septic tank's coming up in the house," she said. "It's at my front door."
Her voice sounded tired and hoarse.
"I'm sick as a dog, and I think it's from the septic, breathing it in."
The neighborhood and nursing home are all flooded for the same reason: water isn't flowing fast enough through a 36-inch culvert under an old railroad bed. It's the only channel through which water can flow.
Both the county and the neighborhood have pumps running.
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Staff writer Bridget Hall Grumet contributed to this report.
