62 seniors displaced after Deer Park nursing home destroyed by tornado

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DEER PARK, Texas - More than 60 seniors at the San Jacinto Manor nursing home in Deer Park have been displaced by Tuesday's tornado and nearly 100 employees are now without a job. Officials are unsure if the facility will be able to be rebuilt.

"I’m overwhelmed and still trying to process all that’s happened to our people and our staff," said Dawn Mundy, a nurse at San Jacinto Manor.

Mundy was inside the nursing home Tuesday afternoon when the building started rattling and the ceiling caved in.

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Inside were 62 seniors, some of whom were bedridden, and dozens of employees terrified and scrambling for cover.

"Some were desperately frightened. They were screaming out for help because the roof caved in on them or water was pouring in on their faces. They were frightened and a lot of them were confused because the dementia patients are already confused so they had no idea what was going on," Mundy said. "For me, I went into just gotta save everybody. Who’s alive? Who’s not alive? It was almost robotic."

Mundy said she and her colleagues began physically carrying out the elderly residents as the power went out, and portions of the building disintegrated into pieces of debris and shattered glass.

"It’s very hard to process that in a blink of an eye, all of our lives changed. Everybody. The staff, the residents, the community," Mundy said.

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Despite the substantial damage, miraculously, no one was seriously hurt, and no fatalities were reported.

"Every resident -- no fatalities. Some scratches, some bumps, that's it. That is God’s divine intervention," Mundy said.

Officials say all 62 seniors have been transported to other facilities in the region or are staying with family.

It's unclear at this point if the building will be reconstructed or demolished.

Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton says the city hopes to clear all debris from the streets by early next week. Meanwhile, CenterPoint is aiming to fully restore power to all affected areas by Sunday night.

Keep up with all updates on the nursing home by visiting their Facebook page.

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