The story behind this viral photo of elderly women in waist deep flood water is insane

The story behind a viral photo from the greater Houston-area stumped social media users on Sunday because it looked so absurd there was no way it could be real...right?

Wrong.

Ummmm, what?

The picture shows elderly women who appear to be in a nursing home seemingly go about their normal business with flood water up to their waists. One woman appears to even be knitting or sewing in the deep water as if it isn't there.

The photo was uploaded to Twitter by Timothy McIntosh, who is from Tampa, Florida, according to his Twitter profile.

He posted the picture pleading that someone would save the elderly residents as the water quickly rose on Sunday.

"Need help asap emergency services please RETWEET," he wrote in a follow up tweet.

According to the Galveston County Daily News, McIntosh's mother-in-law owns the La Vita Bella nursing home in Dickinson, Texas, a town between Galveston and Houston.

The picture's authenticity was initially questioned on social media but later confirmed genuine by Dickerson city officials. The picture was taken around 9 a.m. CST.

The rescue

Thankfully, McIntosh's plea for help worked. According to the Daily News, 15 residents were rescued by Sunday afternoon.

Dickinson emergency management coordinator David Popoff told the newspaper they airlifted the residents from the facility.

"We were air-lifting grandmothers and grandfathers," he said.

McIntosh later celebrated the rescue: