The FLOOD of 1997

The Aurora Volunteer Fire Department and the City of Aurora were awarded the
IACT 1997 Local Government Cooperation Award for Disaster Management during the
 Flood of 1997

Nominated by Richard Ullrich, City of Aurora Clerk/Treasurer

Prepared by Jeff Zoller, Lieutenant- Aurora Fire Company #1

Submitted June 6th, 1997

The premise for this award nomination is to offer one example of a small, rural community success story in flood disaster management by a volunteer organization. It is intended to praise the government, business, emergency and civilian organizations, and their cooperation to accomplish the task at hand. We are proud of the men and women who volunteered their time, equipment and money to make this a success story. It truly represents the heart and soul of Midwestern American values. It must be noted that other communities in our region were less fortunate. The flash flooding in Falmouth, Kentucky claimed at least 5 lives and destroyed hundreds of buildings. Also Patriot, the small community to the southwest of Aurora, was heavily damaged. Our goal was to document the event and prepare a reference tool for others to use in future incidents.

 March 3rd through 11^th , 1997 brought flood water several blocks into the small Indiana river town of Aurora. This was the worst flood in 30 years and the ninth largest flood in recorded history. It crested at 64.7 feet which is 12.7 feet above the flood stage of 52 feet. Aurora is a town of approx. 3500 residents located in the southeastern Indiana county of Dearborn. Flood waters rose into downtown Aurora which consisted of businesses, apartments on first and second floors of buildings, churches and government agencies. Primary residences located along SR56 and Moore Street were also affected.

 Aurora was subjected to the rapid rise in the Ohio River, and then tributaries backed up and flooded their banks. In general the river system had a rapid assent in water levels and a slow decline back below flood stage. This slow decline was a major contributing factor to the success of our operation. It allowed the agencies to clean each business, street and residence and force the debris and sediment back into the river, thus minimizing the overall cleanup effort. Another key point was that Aurora’s fresh water is supplied by a well field drawing water from a deep aquifer that is not contaminated by the Ohio River surface water. This meant that Aurora maintained full use of drinking water facilities and fire hydrants.

 No major disaster had occurred in Aurora since the last flood in 1964, and no disaster plan existed. Therefore, it was left up to the Fire Chief and officers of the Aurora Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD), along with the utility department, local law enforcement and city management to coordinate this disaster management effort.

 As the river level was projected to reach flood stage, a high level site assessment was performed to identify the areas of Aurora that would be affected at various river level stages. These areas were divided into 10 sectors. Sectors were typically divided by a creek or bridge, a road or land mass. Each sector had different structures , business or residential and some sectors were only reachable by boat once the flood waters reached their crest.

 Assessments were also performed on utilities such as gas, water and electric. Electric shutoff points isolated large areas at one time. Electric shutoff points covered both flooded and non-flooded buildings in the same area. Gas meters were either removed or shut off. Water also needed to be shut off. Residential dwellings on the leading edge of the flood zone were quickly determined as high priority for evacuation, and this effort began immediately . A list was created of all available rescue equipment such as boats and 4x4 trucks.

 Site Assessment for Health and Human Services was performed in conjunction with Red Cross personnel. A location within walking distance of the disaster zone was important for volunteers and delivery of supplies. St. Mary’s Activity Center was chosen as the primary site.

 Business facilities on the leading edge of the flood were notified, and all available assistance was provided for packing. Also, government offices, the utility company, fire/police/ems departments that were threatened had to be relocated to higher ground. A Command Center was established at the Aurora Fire Company #1 building where coordination of all communication, activities, organizations and equipment was conducted.. The water level eventually rose within fifteen feet of the entrance to this facility.

 In general, no flood disaster plan was in place for Aurora. Some pieces of information, dated sometime after 1964, were useful in our operation such as a river level flood stage guide for the city listing significant impact points such as " River level at 53’ feet covers Lesko Park parking lot and George Street Bridge" and a flood plain map for the City of Aurora.

 The planning for Aurora began at least one day before the river reached flood stage and continued for several days during its rise to crest of 64.7 feet. With the absence of vacationing Mayor Leon Kelly, AVFD Fire Chief Dana Cotton was appointed Incident Commander (IC); Utility Director Randy Turner was in placed charge of city affairs; Richard Ullrich was handling the funding effort. Initial meetings coordinated by AVFD officers were held with city management, Red Cross leaders, local law enforcement and area fire departments. We devised a list of categories where supplies, people, facilities or services would be needed during the disaster. These included organizations that could provide volunteers, cleanup and pumping equipment, staging areas for things like media, meals and equipment, security, housing for visiting manpower or National Guard and funding.

 On 3/6/97 at 4pm Dearborn County and Aurora were considered a National Disaster Area, Thus FEMA guidelines were now in affect. Richard was faxed copies of FEMA information to assist in planning and disaster management. At this point, it was determined that the National Guard would only be deployed in Aurora if the local, county and state resources (manpower, equipment, funding) were depleted. This would not be the case. 

These initial meetings were critical in defining who was in charge and what each organization’s role would be in this situation. Based on manpower and equipment available, the fire department was determined to be the lead agency in providing rescue and cleanup support. The area fire chiefs offered manpower and equipment and scheduled times over several days. Fire departments outside the immediate area called to offer assistance, as the television and radio news detailed the need for volunteers in Southeastern Indiana.

Local participating organizations were Aurora Fire Companies 1 & 2, Aurora Life Squad, American Red Cross. Regional participating fire departments were Hogan Township, Bright, Greendale, Manchester, Dillsboro, Moores Hill, St. Leon, Lawrenceburg (Company 1,2 & 3), Drewersburg, Scipio, Miller/York. Regional fire departments offering assistance included Westfield, Scottsburg, Versailles, Milan, Geneva Township and the City of Indianapolis.

 Dearborn County (DC) organizations participating were DC Emergency Management Association, DC Water Rescue, DC Sheriff’s Department and DC Communications Dispatchers and DC Corrections.

 Approximately 300 workers of Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun participated in the cleanup, and were excellent in providing administrative support in the Command Center. Others organizations included church groups and civic clubs.

 Indiana-based Campbell Hausfeld’s subsidiary Hale Pump Company offered manpower and pumping and power washer equipment. This was vital to pumping and cleaning interior structures and was equipment that not readily available in mass quantities due to the high demand on tool rental quantities.

 It was determined that heavy equipment such as bobcats, backhoes and dump trucks would be necessary immediately. AVFD officers coordinated the equipment with the volunteers and supplies arriving hourly.

 Logbooks were established in attempt to track equipment, activities, volunteers, messages and other vital information. At this time, implementation of the plans would begin on Thursday evening, March 3rd, as the water crested and began to recede. Disaster management and cleanup efforts would continue until Tuesday, March 11th.

In the next nine days, the outstanding job of organizing and planning performed by the Aurora Volunteer Fire Department was implemented as a smooth 24 hour-per-day operation consisting of civilian volunteers working with firefighters from the 15 fire companies. There were no major injuries reported and no major loss of property. Approximately 8000 man-hours were logged by over 800 volunteers from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. More than 50 pieces of heavy equipment was utilized, including trucks and drivers donated by the city of Scottsburg and 30 large dumpsters from Best Way in Greensburg. Fire apparatus from AVFD and from 8 other departments as well as boats from Dearborn County Water Rescue and Sheriff’s Department were used in rescue and cleaning operations. Approximately 70 buildings were damaged in this flood.

Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon recognized the significance of Aurora’s situation and made two visits to the city during a 14 day period, taking time to meet with city officials. Governor O’Bannon acknowledged the effort of the AVFD in organizing, planning and implementing the disaster plan. The national director of FEMA and state director of SEMA also met in Aurora to offer their support.

As a sign of their appreciation, AVFD created a custom certificate and presented them to over 30 organizations that assisted them in this effort. The pride of the AVFD officers who presented these certificates was evident in their tearful words of appreciation. This one event has been an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the importance of developing strong leaders in our volunteer organizations. The Aurora Volunteer Fire Department has earned the respect and admiration of all emergency organizations in Southeastern Indiana.

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