CAMP VERDE, Ariz. – Cliff Castle Casino Hotel shuttle drivers are used to helping hotel and casino guests get to their destinations, but they found themselves helping evacuate elderly members of the surrounding community in Camp Verde Jan. 21 and 22 as flood waters swept through the area.

Officials were calling the series of storms that hit northern Arizona, including the Flagstaff and Sedona-Verde Valley areas, a once in 500 to 1,000-year event, and similar in effect to the flooding that occurred in 1993. Water levels from several tributaries, including the Verde River, were expected to crest Jan. 22.

The Camp Verde Fire District called Cliff Castle Casino Hotel’s shuttle office for help in evacuating the elderly because shuttles in use at the casino are wheel-chair equipped and the drivers are familiar with assisting wheel-chair bound passengers.

Long term care and nursing home residents at El Dorado Residential Care Home and Infinia at Camp Verde were moved to safe areas beginning late Thursday night, and help with evacuation and return to home care facilities, in some instances, continued through Friday.

“We were happy to be able to assist those with special needs in our community,” said Gail Kruschke, advisor of guest development. “It was great to see the local emergency services rally to action so quickly.”

In addition to helping with the evacuation of the elderly, Cliff Castle Casino Hotel shuttle drivers offered stranded truck drivers rides to area facilities so they could receive Western Union funds and other services.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation owns and operates Cliff Castle Casino Hotel, Arizona’s No. 1 casino for 10 consecutive years. The Yavapai-Apache Nation is a sovereign Native American tribe that thrives on a reservation spanning more than 1,800 acres in the four communities of Camp Verde, Middle Verde, Clarkdale, and Rimrock.

The Nation distributes many thousands of dollars every year to northern Arizona communities in the form of charitable donations, sponsorships, Prop 202 Revenue distributions and higher education scholarships. For additional information on the Yavapai-Apache Nation or Cliff Castle Casino, contact the YAN Office of Public Relations at (928) 567-1006 or the Casino Hotel Public Relations at (928) 567-7991, or visit the Web site.