Washington floods create new worries for frail seniors and their caregivers

For Western Washington’s most frail and medically fragile seniors — and their caregivers — the recent floods and evacuations pose special challenges.

Some residents of skilled nursing facilities and smaller adult family homes have had to transfer abruptly — or they’re sheltering in hotels, and hoping to return home soon.

Selena Hayes lives in Kent. Her 74-year old mother, whose nickname is “Angel,” lives in a memory care facility nearby in Auburn. She has physical disabilities and dementia.

When the flooding began, Hayes said the maps indicated that her mother’s location was safe, but then she heard from the staff.

“I received a call asking if I could possibly take her home with me because they were told they were at a Level 2 -- just to be prepared,” Hayes said,

A “Level Two” evacuation means be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. "Level Three" means “leave now.”

Hayes panicked a little bit, she said, because her home is not equipped for her mom and she doesn’t have much leave time off built up from her new job. Friends suggested she contact another “memory care” facility in Kent, one that she’d looked at previously. That facility had room and was able to provide so-called “respite care” for her mom, for a daily fee.

“They were very kind and said they could take her,” Hayes said. “And then they were able to go and pick her up and bring her to the east hill of Kent where she could be safe from all the flooding.”

This was a great solution, Hayes said, and her mom coped pretty well with the abrupt move. But her mom’s dementia made it complicated.

A friend visited and texted Hayes saying, “Your mom is pretty sad” and “doesn’t remember why she’s here.” Angel’s usual treats — like a Coke and a favorite TV show — failed to cheer her up.

When Hayes visited, it was clear her mom was disoriented by the change.

“She saw me and she did get upset and she was trying to figure out what was going on,” Hayes said. “I told her, ‘Oh it’s like a hotel and we’ll get you back home as soon as the flooding has subsided.’”

Her mom did return to her home facility this past week.

But according to the state’s Department of Social and Health Services, scores of vulnerable people have made similar journeys as a result of the flooding, and some will not be able to return soon.

Residents of four adult family homes (a licensed, staffed residential setting often in a neighborhood house) in the town of Pacific have been transferred because those homes were flooded. In Lakewood, another adult family home was damaged by a falling tree, and residents will have to stay in a hotel for a couple weeks during repairs.

Fifteen different facilities throughout western Washington have faced evacuations so far.

Ashley Hogue has been keeping careful tabs on the Green River near one of the skilled nursing facilities she oversees in Auburn.

“We’re okay on the Level 3 [zone], that one’s pretty north of us,” she said, “but the Level 2 ‘Stay Ready’ warning is about a half a mile away from us, so we’re watching it very closely.”

Hogue is a regional director of operations for Caldera Care skilled nursing facilities. The Auburn facility houses 75 to 80 residents with complex medical needs. In an interview Wednesday, Hogue said she’s been in touch with authorities every hour, and they have a transfer plan for each person.

“If for some reason things worsen and we receive guidance to evacuate we’re ready to go,,” she said. “We have a lot of residents and staff to consider so we have to be overly cautious and prepared to keep everybody safe.”

Hogue also oversees a skilled nursing facility in Centralia on the banks of the Skookumchuck River. They evacuated there four years ago, and it took hours.

“It didn’t actually end up flooding in the building but it came under the building,” Hogue said. “That would not have been a scenario that we wanted to sit and wait around and not know how it was going to turn out.”

Those patients were transferred to other facilities in their network. But Hogue says some of their residents are short term — just there for rehabilitation or recuperation from surgery. And hose people have another reason to be anxious: they’re worried about flooding in the homes they’re supposed to return to.

Here is the full statement from DSHS on weather-related evacuations of long-term care facilities as of 12/19/2025:

DSHS is tracking long-term care facilities that have been evacuated due to flooding. DSHS does not own the facilities, but our clients live at these impacted facilities. Here is the list:

• One skilled nursing facility in Sedro-Woolley evacuated and returned to normal operations Dec. 16. The facility sent residents to six other skilled nursing facilities in Federal Way, Mount Vernon, Kirkland, and Marysville. In addition, a few residents went to two different hotels in Mount Vernon and Marysville.

• Eight assisted living facilities evacuated due to flooding evacuations in Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, and La Conner. Residents went to other assisted living facilities or went home with family. One resident went to a skilled nursing facility.

• One adult family home in Lakewood evacuated due to a tree falling on the home. This facility has not returned to normal operations and will not be able to return for a couple of weeks. Residents are staying in a hotel.

• Four adult family homes evacuated due to the "Level 3" evacuation in Pacific. These facilities have not returned to normal operations and not expected to due to the flooding impacts to these facilities. Five residents went to a nearby hospital. The rest went to other adult family homes.

• One enhanced services facility evacuated due to flooding evacuations in Auburn. Residents are staying in a hotel.