By Rich Pollack
With Hurricane Milton bearing down on them and a new evacuation order issued, the team at Tampa’s Estate at Hyde Park memory-care facility knew it needed to flee — and fast.
So, at 5 p.m. Oct. 8, the day before the storm was expected to batter Florida’s west coast, the staff packed up about 50 residents and their belongings — and about as many staff members — loaded up two large coaches and headed east.
Nine hours later — at 2 a.m. — the buses rolled into the parking lot of the Carlisle Palm Beach in Lantana, where they were greeted with open arms by several staff members who had been anticipating their arrival.
“It was all hands on deck,” said Carlisle General Manager Jim Alexander. “We all came in to get them settled.”
Related: South County catches break during Hurricane Milton
The Carlisle, a luxury senior living center tucked between the Intracoastal Waterway and the ocean, was able to house 35 of the Hyde Park residents as well as 11 staff members, while the remaining residents and staff from the Tampa center took refuge at the five-star Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, across State Road A1A in Manalapan.
‘It went off without a hitch’
“We were able to accommodate around 30 evacuees from Florida’s west coast, providing a comfortable place to stay,” an Eau spokesperson said.
While the people from Estate at Hyde Park were here — they returned to Tampa Oct. 11 — the Carlisle provided all the meals and laundry facilities, as well as just about anything else that was needed.
Senior facilities helping each other is not uncommon, with Alexander saying that most, including the Carlisle, have a reciprocal agreement with three or four other facilities they can turn to in a crisis.
This situation was a little different, he said.
“The Estate at Hyde Park wasn’t on our list but it didn’t matter,” he said, adding that he and his team learned of the Tampa facility’s need through their corporate office. “We had the capacity and it went off without a hitch.”
Alexander credited the staffs at both Hyde Park and the Carlisle for ensuring that everything turned out well.
“They brought their staff members, who were well in tune with their residents,” Alexander said. “We had good systems in place and our whole staff did an incredible job.”
Christy Gray, executive director at the Estate at Hyde Park, said that thanks to the help her team received from both the Carlisle and its corporate parent, Bridge Senior Living, the stay was seamless with no disruption to the seniors’ daily routines.
“It truly was a team effort, and this collaboration allowed us to keep our residents safe, comfortable and well cared for,” Gray said.
As for the Estate at Hyde Park, its facilities weathered the storm just fine.
Turtle refugees, too
Coastal South Palm Beach County served as a refuge for some from the west coast who fled the earlier Hurricane Helene — although not all were human.
Several sea turtles from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium arrived at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton in late September after the facility that housed them suffered severe flood damage.
The turtles — six green sea turtles, a Kemp’s ridley and some hatchings — are being cared for by the nonprofit Coastal Stewards’ Sea Turtle Rehabilitation and Release Program until they can be returned to Clearwater.
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