St. Augustine Plantation Senior Living looks at months of restoration after tornadoes

Tales of destruction continue to emerge from the May 10 storms and tornadoes, now including a Tallahassee residential community for senior citizens needing assisted living or memory care.

In the case of St. Augustine Plantation Senior Living Community on Old St. Augustine Road, it suffered so much damage that its memory care facility residents all had to be moved out.

On Friday, workers were on campus ripping out drywall, removing insulation and continuing to move salvageable furniture, part of repairs and building restorations that will likely take several months.

Nicole Jermyn, the community's marketing director, told the Tallahassee Democrat that "a tornado ... caused significant roof and water damage," adding that staff worked swiftly to adapt and ensure residents' safety.

The campus was on the path of two twisters that combined and ravaged central Tallahassee. Memory care residents now are living temporarily in St. Augustine Plantation's assisted living space or were taken to other nearby memory care facilities, such as Tapestry Senior Living.

Steven Wright, president and CEO of Recon Restoration and Reconstruction, told a reporter damage included trees hitting an above-ground water main, leading to severe flooding inside the building.

"Depending on how much rain there is, it can definitely cause a lot of the issues," Wright said. "The rainwater itself, with no power sitting there for days, will cause mold so you (need) a whole other type of cleaning out of that."

He could not give an exact estimate of how long the reconstruction would take, other than "some months."

Megan Griffin, the community's executive director, said that in the hours after the storm, staff worked to get residents to safety, washed drenched clothes and tried to ensure a sense of routine, especially for memory care residents.

They're "used to Florida so they understand that we have storms and that we might have to go to a hotel or someplace different because of a storm," Griffin said. "Our biggest thing was just with continuity of care. I wanted to make sure that the same team members that were with them day in and day out remained the same."

Griffin said staff and residents look forward to a grand reopening once work is complete. They will provide priority space for residents who wish to return, then open up to the public for any additional spots.

Arianna Otero is the City Solutions Reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com or on Twitter/X: @ari_v_otero.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee seniors face months away from home after tornado damage