Monroe County residents were rocked with heavy rains early last week that caused substantial flooding and had first responders rushing from scene to scene as they rescued stranded motorists, cleared out waterlogged businesses and generally kept the county from going under.

Though the severe weather caused its fair share of damage, one surprisingly happy story to come out of the July 16 flooding occurred at the Garden Place senior living community at 480 DD Road at the northwest edge of Columbia.

First responders from the Columbia Fire Department joined other emergency officials at Garden Place about 3 p.m. as water threatened to creep over a levee at the nearby Palmer Creek.

An evacuation was staged, with residents transported to the Columbia American Legion Hall for much of the rest of the evening.

As Garden Place Administrator Tammy Looby said, the process went very smoothly, with folks keeping an eye on the nearby levee and first responders ultimately recommending the evacuation as a precautionary measure.

Looby further recounted that the loved ones of Garden Place residents were also contacted. Those with family living in the area were taken to spend the night with them following the brief stay at the American Legion, with others spending the night at Super 8 in Waterloo.

The last time the senior living facility required an evacuation was actually last summer as Garden Place and the rest of Columbia faced a lengthy power-outage caused by a severe storm over the July 4 holiday.

Per Looby, staff and management were fairly prepared for such an emergency.

“We kind of talk about this stuff on a regular basis,” Looby said. “Our policy is to normally evacuate to the nearest Garden Place, our sister community, but most of them were all full, so the nearest community would have been Mt. Vernon.”

She further explained that, as Garden Place residents were permitted to return to the facility last Wednesday morning, an overnight stay in Mt. Vernon was decided against.

Marjorie Drexler was one of many Garden Place residents who spent last Tuesday night outside the facility, and though most folks might not have fond things to say about the flooding, she has been able to look on the brighter side.

“Everybody realized that the director and all the ladies who work here, who are caregivers, were there to help us, to take care of us and make sure that we would be OK,” Drexler said. “It was an experience, and kind of an adventure.”

Like Looby, Drexler said the evacuation process went perfectly smooth as residents were transported by bus to the American Legion and their overnight accommodations.

She expressed thanks to the many first responders who came out to assist, as well as all Garden Place staff who did their best to ensure residents were comfortable and cared for through the incident.

“Everybody here who’s an authority did a very fine job,” Drexler said. “They kept spirits light. Nobody was grumbling. Nobody was unhappy. We were cared for, and we appreciated it.”

She further remarked that the evacuation was quite fun, with Looby echoing her comment about the flood excursion.

“We made it a little mini-vacation,” Looby said.

In the aftermath of the flooding, Looby reported no damage to the building as the levee wasn’t breached – though she did indicate that Garden Place is looking to get some reimbursement from the state for the cost of the hotel rooms.

In a Facebook post last Wednesday morning, Columbia Police Chief Jason Donjon and Deputy Police Chief Karla Heine praised the combined efforts of police, fire department, EMS, City of Columbia and Columbia School District Transportation Department personnel in this evacuation as well as the flooding in general. 

“We began with the idea of serving the residents, but trust me they wound up helping and cheering us on more than we could reciprocate,” the police officials said. “It’s so amazing to be a part of a community that always ‘backs’ us and supports what is right!”

Columbia police officials also praised the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency for its expertise and surrounding agencies such as the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and Waterloo Police Department for offering help.  

Assessing damage

The Monroe County Economic Development Corporation is asking all local businesses that incurred expenses related to the significant weather event last Tuesday to email detailed damage information to execdirector@mciledc.com.

These details will be recorded and relayed to the appropriate state departments, as the region may be awarded state or federal distaster relief opportunities.

Similarly, the City of Columbia has a preliminary damage assessment documentation form available at its website (columbiail.gov) for all property owners impacted by the flash flooding.  

For more information, call Columbia City Hall at 618-281-7144, ext. 120.