Vero Beach Retirement Center evacuated to dodge Jeanne

Photo by John J. Hannigan III

VERO BEACH (FBW) – Attempting to dodge its second hurricane in just three weeks, Florida Baptist Retirement Center officials decided early Saturday morning, Sept. 25, they would have to evacuate its residents in anticipation of a powerful Category 3 hurricane projected to make landfall in the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 26. As was the case on Sept. 3 before Hurricane Frances hit, the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church of Vero Beach sheltered the center’s residents and staff.

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Administrator Tommy McDaniel told Florida Baptist Witness Sept. 25 that the evacuation was completed by noon. Just two days later, the residents were moved back to the retirement center campus, although nursing home residents were not able to move back to their building because of extensive flooding.

Approximately 60 residents – including 24 in nursing and 15 in assisted living facilities – and an additional 30-40 staff were part of the evacuation, McDaniel estimated.

Asked Sept. 25 how the staff was bearing up under the difficult circumstances, McDaniel said, “We’re doing well. It’s just hard to believe we’re doing this again.”

Photo by James A. Smith Sr.

Carol Burdette, nursing director of Florida Baptist Retirement Center, comforts 97-year-old resident Beatrice Chambless at the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church of Vero Beach Sept. 27 while awaiting her return to the center’s campus. More than 60 residents were evacuated Sept. 25 in anticipation of Hurricane Jeanne.

By Monday, Sept. 27 shortly before the moving back to the campus, nursing director Carol Burdette told the Witness that the residents and staff fared “very, very well.” Burdette quipped, “We’re seasoned hurricane survivors.”

Still, the hurricane was “terrible” to experience, she said. “It sounded as if the world was coming to an end. It makes you feel very humble. But we all survived.”

In an interview at the church while awaiting return to the campus, Beatrice Chambless, a 97-year-old nursing home resident, told the Witness that the hurricane was “pretty bad, I’ll tell you.” She commended the retirement center staff for their efforts in the evacuation. “It’s quite a job to do it all, but they know how to go about it.”

Back on the campus, independent living resident Orba Dotson said of the center’s staff: “They did a noble thing under trying circumstances. We applaud them for that.”

Until late Friday evening, the staff had hoped to be able to keep the residents on the 22 acre campus, but the strengthening hurricane and increasing likelihood of landfall near Vero Beach dictated that an evacuation would be necessary.

The damage from Hurricane Jeanne has been even worse than the impact of Frances three weeks earlier. Frances pounded the campus Sept. 4-5, bringing down many trees and causing roof damage and two inches of flooding in the nursing facility.

After Jeanne, the nursing facility is not operational and may not be inhabitable for a week while workers remove flooring, carpet and baseboards. Residents of the nursing facility are being cared for in the assisted living facility until renovations are completed.

Roofs on several other buildings which were in the process of being repaired from damage experienced by Frances have been battered even more by Jeanne. And, many villas and cottages – occupied by independent living residents – lost their screened porches and some carports were damaged. Residents reported that a number of the homes had leaking from roof damage.

“We’ve all got wet bathrooms,” Alison Phillips told the Witness Sept. 27, although he added that the damage is not as bad as might have been expected from the fierce storm. “Not at all – we’re blessed.”

Retirement center staff expressed gratitude for the hospitality of First Baptist Church in sheltering the residents.

“They’ve been overly gracious to us; we can’t say enough good things about them,” McDaniel said of the First Baptist staff and membership.

“We’re just glad” to assist the retirement center, said pastor Jim Newsome, in Sept. 25 telephone interview with Florida Baptist Witness. “Our relationship with the retirement center has always been a tremendous one,” he added, noting that a large percentage of the Baptist residents are part of the First Baptist family.

Many members of First Baptist are still recovering from the battering the area experience after Frances three weeks ago, Newsome reported. Members had roof damage and flooding. Jeanne “will just make it extremely difficult because many of them have tarps to keep their houses dried in …,” he added.

Newsome said that he anticipated the church would need to host more feeding units, as it did after Frances when Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams from Tennessee and Michigan assisted residents of Vero Beach.

In addition to expressing gratitude for the disaster relief teams, Newsome said that he was grateful for John Sullivan’s call after Frances offering assistance to the church. Sullivan is executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention.

Speaking to the Witness at the church Sept 27, two days after Jeanne hit, Newsome said the church facility had “no structural damage,” with limited damage to roof tiles and flashing, and leaks in the church’s preschool building. He said that his home fared well in spite of the 120 mile per hour winds that came ashore near Vero Beach.

Some church members were not so fortunate. The church has sheltered about 25-30 members who live on the beach and have not been able to return or whose homes were damaged by Jeanne, Newsome said.

Eddie McClelland, president of Florida Baptist Financial Services, traveled to the retirement center campus Sept. 27 to assist with the clean-up. The center is managed by FBFS. Following the return of the residents, McClelland reported, “Spirits are high. The staff did an admirable job again.”