Flood forced nursing home evacuation

Torrential overnight rain forced the emergency evacuation early Saturday morning of the nearly 60 residents of Oregon Living & Rehabilitation Center.

Storms that began around 6:30 p.m. Friday and continued all night dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain on Ogle County.

By 6 a.m. the floodwaters were edging ever closer to the healthcare facility at 811 S. 10th Street, Oregon.

“With the floodwater rising we realized we needed to evacuate,” said Jen Stark, Director of Communications for Momentum Healthcare, which owns the facility.

With the help of the Oregon Fire Department and other local agencies, the residents were taken first to the fire station and then to three other area healthcare facilities.

“They were taken to the fire station for triage, some by ambulance, some by our own vehicles, and some by Village of Progress vans, and some by school buses,” she said.

From there they were transported to healthcare facilities at Franklin Grove, Amboy, and Shabbona, all of which are owned by Momentum.

Stark said Monday that officials would determine sometime later in the day when residents will be able to return.

The building sustained no damage, she said, because the water didn’t get inside.

The situation was a case of training paying off.

“We train once a year for a full evacuation,” Stark said. “Our staff handled it very well. They all worked together with our sister facilities. Everyone got transferred safely and securely. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”

She said she appreciated the cooperation from other community agencies.

“Village of Progress was there for us despite their own flooding,” she said. “We are so grateful to be part of such a generous community.”

A few blocks away the Village of Progress staff had answered the call for their buses equipped with wheelchair lifts only to find their own building flooded.

Village Executive Director Brion Brooks said Monday that a foot of water was inside 80 percent of their building, ruining drywall, furniture, and the products clients make for contractors.

Oregon Fire Chief Mike Knoup said the evacuation was the major call the fire department received as a result of the storms, but certainly not the only one.

“On Friday night we were out for several auto alarms and wires down,” he said.

He is currently working with the Red Cross and Ogle County Emergency Management Agency to use the fire station as a distribution point for flood clean-up kits.

Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said the flooding was county-wide.

“It was all the way from the Pines to Monroe Center and down to Rochelle,” he said. “We had trees down, roads covered with water, and washed out shoulders and roads. I don’t remember ever seeing the water so high on the 64 bridge [in Oregon].”

He said that with heavy rain in the forecast, his department spent the days before the storms warning residents in flood-prone areas of the impending danger.

“We had pretty substantial advanced warning,” VanVickle said. “We made sure everyone had plenty of lead time.”

As a result, residents in low-lying areas voluntarily left their homes, and no rescues were necessary, he said.

VanVickle and the sheriffs of Winnebago, Lee, and Whiteside Counties activated the no wake ordinance on the Rock River on Thursday afternoon.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources closed the river to all boaters on Saturday because of the high water and debris.