Nursing home patients airlifted to safety from Harvey floodwaters

Patients at a Texas nursing home were airlifted to safety Sunday after being trapped by Harvey's floodwaters.

A haunting image from inside the flooded facility — La Vita Bella in Dickinson, Galveston County — shows women clinging to their belongings as the murky water rose above the arms of their chairs and walkers.

Trudy Lampson, who owns the nursing home, sent flood photos to her daughter and son-in-law, Kim and Timothy McIntosh, in Florida.

Timothy shared the image on Twitter.

"Need help asap emergency services please," he wrote.

Some Twitter users suspected the image was fake — but the couple says the photo is 100% real. A second image shows the water level rising in a corner of the room.

About 20 people stay at the facility, and many use wheelchairs and oxygen tanks.

Lampson was told on Saturday not to evacuate ahead of the deadly storm, since the facility has never flooded before, her daughter said.

"It's never even flooded past the sidewalk," Kim McIntosh told the Daily News. "No one asked her to evacuate, but she has evacuation plans to leave."

The facility has a personal connection for Lampson — her mother was once a patient.

"She loves [the patients]like her family," Kim McIntosh said of her mother. "It's her whole life."

Hours following Timothy McIntosh's Twitter post, Galveston County Office of Emergency Management confirmed that the situation at La Vita Bella was resolved — and that all the patients were safe.

The residents were airlifted to safety, OEM coordinator David Popoff confirmed to the Galveston County Daily News.

The news was a relief for Timothy and Kim McIntosh.

"RESCUED!! Thank you to the National Guard & the Galveston City Emergency crew for our rescue," Timothy McIntosh wrote.