Doris McCabe found herself back at high school Tuesday, but it wasn’t by choice.
The smiling 83-year-old was among 200 residents of Josephine Sunset Home who were evacuated to high ground Monday night because of flooding concerns.
She and the rest made do with temporary shelter in Stanwood High School’s cafeteria and gym.
“It was difficult being in an Army cot last night, but I slept on and off,” she said, putting down the crossword puzzle she was working.
Displaced nursing home residents in wheelchairs played a pickup game of balloon volleyball and watched a Dean Martin video and “The Sound of Music.”
The evacuation was voluntary, said Marilyn Kennedy, an administrator with the Christian-based skilled nursing and assisted living home. The group may stay until Thursday, depending on river levels.
“The main thing is that we’re in a safe place,” Kennedy said. “The reasoning behind evacuating is we didn’t want to put anybody in jeopardy.”
Josephine Sunset Home sits close to a bend in the lower Stillaguamish River, an area known for scenic beauty and waterfowl. The land nearby is prone to occasional flooding.
A local American Red Cross chapter set up the emergency shelter at the high school, which sits on higher ground.
While the mood was mostly upbeat, ambulances near the entrance of the school underscored how serious the situation was. Aides changed bedding and nurses distributed medication, double-checking patients’ charts.
An 84-year-old woman who was in hospice care died at the shelter early Tuesday. Three other patients were hospitalized for various reasons, Kennedy said.
“It is a disruption for them to move,” Kennedy said. “It’s hard on them, but it was the right decision. We still have to err toward caution.”
Troy Faith Ward, Josephine’s chaplain, spent most of the day comforting the family of the woman who died.
Ward, an Arkansas native with a gentle voice, said most residents were taking the move well. A few even treated it like camping or a slumber party, she said.
Taking a cigarette break outside the high school, Richard Cadle, 70, said the evacuation was well run. “A little bit of praise will do these people some good,” he said.
Several volunteers from the Stanwood area helped Red Cross officials and about 150 nursing home staffers run the shelter.
Marti Gay, 64, who lives at Josephine, rested in an overstuffed brown recliner near the gym entrance, medical supplies and resting patients nearby.
“From my little view, people seem to be doing better than yesterday,” she said. “Yesterday they just had a shocked look.”
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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