Posted: 8/28/07
Caledonia Care takes in evacuees from Valley View Nursing Home
By Charlie Warner
Argus Editor
Between a foot and 16 inches of rain had fallen on the already super-saturated landscape of Southeastern Minnesota Saturday, August 18 and into the early morning of August 19. Rush Creek had jumped its banks and was inundating Rushford. The Root River was spilling over the countryside, as it made its way across western Houston County. The storm surge was bearing down on the city of Houston.
After spending a sleepless night coordinating numerous rescue missions of flood victims, county officials had a very important decision to made - to evacuate or not evacuate the city of Houston. Houston was protected from the Root River by a levee built to handle floodwater levels of 20 feet or less. The Root River was rising by the minute. Would it crest before it reached 20 feet?
County officials decided not to gamble with lives of the approximately 1,000 persons who called Houston home, and issued a decree to evacuate the city at noon Sunday.
While it is tough enough to evacuate the general populace of a town the size of Houston, itís quite another endeavor to clear the residents out of a nursing home and find another place for them to stay, especially when you donít know for how long.
But thatís just what happened Sunday, August 19 when 32 residents from the Valley View Nursing Home in Houston and another 31 residents of the adjoining Heritage Court Apartments were transported to Caledonia Care and Rehab. The 32 residents from Valley View, two spouses, and one of the residents from Heritage Court remained at the Caledonia nursing home last week, while the remaining 30 residents of Heritage Home were transported on to Spring Grove and Mabel facilities.
"Itís incredible just how well the evacuation went," noted Sherry Johnson, who serves as director of nursing at Valley View Nursing Home in Houston. "When you consider we moved 32 nursing home residents, most who are confined to wheel chairs, some to beds, and also their beds, mattresses, medicine carts, and medical records, and did it all in one trip, it really is amazing.
"We received so much help from the people in Caledonia. We had so many volunteers helping us take apart the beds, carry the beds, mattresses, and medicine carts through pouring rain into stock trailers. They also helped us move our residents into buses and ambulances for the trip to Caledonia. Thereís no way this could have been possible without those volunteers."
When the staff at Valley View Nursing Home first learned the city might be evacuated, they started making contingency plans. But when Administrator Tom Lindh attempted to contact area nursing homes to find a place for his residents, he discovered all lines of communication had been cut off. So he jumped in his car and drove the treacherous 12 miles along Highway 76 to Caledonia. There he met with Marian Rauk, assistant administrator and director of nursing at Caledonia Care and Rehab.
"We told Tom we could make room for his residents and started calling for volunteers to help with the move," Rauk said. "We had a number of residents who had private rooms, we had several day rooms where we could put beds. We were high and dry. These people were in need and we could make it work."
Rauk was in contact with Caledonia Care Administrator Lloyd Swalve, and the two put a plan together to handle the Houston residents. Rauk and her staff rounded up as many able-bodied persons as they could find to help with the impending move. The group included most of the Caledonia staff, many of their spouses and other family members, the custodial staff, and anyone else they could find. They were able to get two stock trailers to transport the beds, mattresses, and medical carts. Rauk figures there were between 40 and 50 volunteers on hand to help when they arrived in Houston.
"We were down to a skeleton crew," Johnson said. "Many of our employees live in the Rushford area, and they have emergencies of their own. Besides, we couldnít get in touch with anyone. The landlines were down and the cell phone towers couldnít keep up with all the calls.
"If it hadnít been for all the volunteers from Caledonia, we wouldnít have made it," Johnson continued. "These people went way beyond the call of duty. We had some people still helping us out in Caledonia at 9 p.m."
When the convey from Houston arrived in town, the residents from Valley View and Heritage Court were ushered into Caledonia Care. The local care facility would have problems accommodating over 60 extra persons. Thankfully, the care facilities in Spring Grove and Mabel had room for the Heritage Court residents.
It was still pouring down rain when the beds and mattresses were hauled out of the Houston nursing home and into the waiting trailers. All of the bedding had to be stripped from the beds, washed, dried and put back on the beds by volunteers. The local nursing home was a flurry of activity, according to Rauk, but it didnít seem to bother the residents from either community.
"I was amazed at how calm our residents were," Rauk said. "Change is often difficult for older persons, but those who had private rooms opened up their rooms to the Houston guests. We explained these people were being evacuated because of a flood. These people needed a place to stay, and our residents felt good that they could help. This gave them a new purpose, and I feel that was one of the reasons why they accepted this the way they did. It made them feel good to be helping others."
By 9 p.m. Sunday the residents at Caledonia Care, which was 33 more than it had been that morning, had been fed, received their meds, and were settling down for a well-deserved rest.
Because much of the communications network in western Houston County and eastern Fillmore County was still down Monday, Johnson had a very difficult time communicating with her staff. Volunteers from the area were called in to help tend to the needs of the additional residents at Caledonia Care.
"Everyone pitched in to help," Johnson said. "When people heard we had evacuated to Caledonia, they somehow got in touch with us and asked if we needed help. I just canít say enough about how people came out to volunteer."
By Tuesday, many of the residents felt it was time to return to Houston and home. But weather forecasts predicted heavy rains for Tuesday night. So it was decided to wait for at least another day.
"Some of the residents were upset when they were told we were not returning to Houston on Tuesday," Johnson said. "But when they saw footage of the floods in Rushford, and other parts of Houston County on TV, many of them realized just how bad the situation was."
The situation in Houston improved on Wednesday, when the Root River levels continued to drop, and the area was spared of any more torrential rains. Thursday afternoon, the Valley View residents returned home.
Johnson and Rauk both said the evacuation experience is something they will never forget. They were both so impressed with all the volunteer help, the efforts of their staffs to make this tenuous situation workable, and the residents themselves, who seemed to take it all in stride.
"Thereís one more thing," Johnson said, smiling at Rauk. "Thatís the friendship Iíve developed with Marian. Before this, I didnít know who she was, even though we were working just 12 miles away from each other. But after what weíve gone through, I feel I have a very good friend." And Rauk echoed that sentiment with a nod and a big smile.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com