Residents of senior care center in New Richland forced to rebuild after flooding

The 1,200 residents who call New Richland, Minnesota, home won't forget Saturday, when nine inches of pouring rain led to flooding in town.

One of the damaged properties was the New Richland Care Center, a senior living facility home to dozens of residents. They had to evacuate over the weekend.

Bob Johannsen, an administrator at the senior care home, called it an "awful experience I hope nobody ever has to go through." 

Johannsen answered a 3:30 a.m. call to evacuate.

"These people lost homes. The whole community lost homes. My staff is losing their jobs, I don't know what to do," he said.

Eighty-five staff members assist the three dozen residents, Johannsen said. 

"We're deep into the clean-up and unfortunately this is the part people start losing interest in the story but this is when we need help," said Tyler Lendt, New Richland's city administrator.

Lendt says they need volunteers and they're in the process of setting up a volunteer coordinator to help with that void.

New Richland also experienced flooding in 2010 and 2016, though most say this storm knocked those years out of the ballpark.

But it's not letting Johannsen define his love for the community.

"You couldn't ask for a better place to live," he said.

The city and county hope to get state and federal dollars to try to fix the problem permanently. If you can't volunteer, the Waseca Area Foundation is taking donations online.