Fortunately, it looks like a bunch of old folks in Chambers County won’t be left to fend for themselves after all.

Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia was quoted in the Houston Chronicle earlier this afternoon as saying two bus companies reneged on their contracts to evacuate nursing homes in Anahuac and Winnie.

However, Ryan Holzaepfel, the county’s emergency management coordinator, says the state’s emergency-management authorities have already dispatched buses and ambulances to aid in the evacuation. Holzaepfel said it’s more likely that the companies’ buses were deployed to other facilities they contracted with – so it’s not so much a problem of the companies backing out, it’s because the companies are being stretched thin. (By the way, no one seems to have the names of the companies).

We’re waiting to hear more from representatives of Anahuac Healthcare. The folks at the Arboretum in Winnie weren’t so cooperative – they hung up on us numerous times. But we got a hold of someone at their management company, TAG Management, who gave an explanation similar to Holzaepfel’s.

Ultimately, it sounds like these contracts can be vague and confusing – go figure!

-- Craig Malisow