Six important Ogle County residents were on duty when an EF4 tornado struck Ogle County April 9.
For staying calm throughout the disaster and helping the public, the Ogle County E9-1-1- Board presented telecommunicators with certificates of recognition on May 13.
“I can not believe what these people went through and how they kept their calm, said 9-1-1 coordinator Sandy Beitel. “The professionalism was above and beyond anything I could even imagine. They handled things expeditiously with the proper treatment of the public.”
Beitel listened to an hour’s worth of calls that came into the center during the storm.
“You guys made a perfect storm work out,” she said.
Sandy Sullivan, Rochelle; Cassie Rogers, Rochelle; Brian Symons, Ogle County; Cory Beck, Rochelle; Heather Butler, telecommunicators supervisor; and Kathy Hardesty, Ogle County, were on duty at the Rochelle call center during the storm.
The Ogle County call center was still in transition between the old building and the new public safety complex, which required all the telecommunicators to use the same facility.
“They did a great job and we were lucky to have this group working together,” said Sullivan. “They worked as a great team. Two different agencies coming together. They did an excellent job.”
The high praise continued from everyone on the 9-1-1 board including Richard Mott, assistant chief of the Lynn-Scott-Rock Fire Department.
“Thank you,” Mott said. “Being in the fire side I was on the outside. I would much rather be where I was then where you were. I would not have your job for all the tea in China.”
The telecommunicators were also presented with t-shirts.
The shirt has a tornado graphic and reads “I was the calm voice during the storm” along with their agency.
A sign from Hickory Ridge Drive, a subdivision off Skare Road west of Rochelle was returned to the county and was on display during the meeting.
The sign was found approximately 24 miles northwest in Boone County near Bloods Point and Wheeler Road.
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