A man with deteriorating health was rescued from his Houston home after he went unnoticed for several days amid the chaos of Hurricane Harvey.
Earl Rolls, a blind man with diabetes and epilepsy, reportedly suffered ‘many seizures’ inside the house and was not able to reach paramedics or other health care aides, said Robert Moore, Washington Correspondent for British outlet ITV News.
Rolls was in the presence of family members at the time who attempted to seek help from outside the home, but their efforts went unnoticed.
Moore, who was reporting at the scene near the home at the time, heard the family’s plea for help from across the street.
ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore rescued a blind man from his home during the floods
Earl Rolls, who suffers from diabetes and epilepsy, and his family were stuck inside their Texas home surrounded by water almost four foot deep
The family’s pleas for help, which had gone unnoticed for days, were heard by Moore, who had been reporting from the scene last week
With no paramedics or firefighters available to help, Moore helped carry Mr Rolls, who had begun suffering a seizure, to dry land
‘Someone inside was suffering multiple seizures,’ Moore recalled last week, according to the ITV report.
‘I’ve just seen the people up here on this balcony waving a white flag at me. I mean, clearly in need of help and potentially a rescue.
‘And yet there’s no sign of even the police or of volunteers,’ he said.
‘We summoned paramedics, but this city is overwhelmed… There was no prospect of anyone coming.’
Rolls told the news station he had been in a state of suffering ‘for days’ as he waited to receive medical treatment.
Rolls told the news station he was suffering ‘for days’ as he waiting for someone to help
Rolls had another seizure on the way to the hospital and officials had to place him in the back of a construction vehicle
He was finally sent to a nearby emergency facility for further care
Rolls said he had been awake for five days and his family was distressed as the first floor of their home was completely flooded.
When Moore reached Rolls and one of his family members, he fell more physically ill from walking through the high and grim waters.
When the group arrived to dry ground, Rolls was picked up by police.
Rolls had another seizure on the way to the hospital and officials had to place him in the back of a construction vehicle where he was transported to a nearby emergency facility for further care.
Rolls told Moore (pictured) he had been awake for five days as the family was distressed and the first floor of their home completely flooded
Death tolls from the severe tropical storm rose over the past week, while hundreds of people are said to be still missing.
At least 60 people have died from Category 4 Hurricane Harvey, authorities said in a new statement.
Staff members at George R. Brown Convention Center, who housed evacuees from their homes, told the Houston Chronicle it’s been a difficult process to keep close track of evacuees who have registered and who have not because of the substantial numbers.
‘The biggest issue is we have no central communications or database of all the folks who have been evacuated into all these shelters,’ CEO of Texas Center for Missing Persons, Beth Alberts said.
‘Everybody is overwhelmed.’