Rockford business owner still recovering from July floods that damaged 200+ properties
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter
ROCKFORD — This is supposed to be Diane Tope’s busy season, when customers flow into Great Hang-Ups thrift store for back-to-school shopping, homecoming dresses or suits and tuxes for fall wedding season.
Instead, the local business owner is busy trying to ensure she can reopen after roughly 18 inches of water flowed across the shop floor during heavy rain that produced flash floods on July 13 and 14.
Tope is still fixing the damage and trying to weather the hit to her income while the store has been forced to close for repairs. She hopes to reopen next month.
“This is usually our Christmas at Great Hang-Ups,” Tope said of sales during this time of year. “With us being down — that’s my only income. So every day it’s a task just to keep going.”
Great Hang-Ups, 613 S. Rockford Ave., was among dozens of homes and businesses damaged by flash floods about a month ago.
There were 245 structures in Winnebago County damaged by the floods, according to Trent Brass, coordinator of Winnebago County’s Emergency Service & Disaster Agency. That includes 67 properties that incurred major damages.
A day after the floods, a powerful wind storm ripped through the area and struck 61 homes and two businesses.
In both cases, the actual damage done is expected to be higher than the official total because part of the county’s tally relies on self-reporting. City and county officials also had damage assessment teams collecting information. It’s unclear how many, like Great Hang-Ups, are still recovering from the damage.
Flood damage was particularly harsh for businesses along Charles Street near Keith Creek, many which lost inventory and sustained damaged during the July floods.
The city has dealt with flooding along Keith Creek since at least 1883, according to the Keith Creek Corridor Study. Some of the worst flooding came in 2006, when a massive flood submerged cars and damaged at least 700 homes and 80 businesses. It was described at the time as a 100-year flood event, but another devastating flood happened just 11 months later.
The city has taken several measures to curb flooding, including buying and demolishing homes in the floodplain starting in 2009. It razed more than 115 homes through 2011, but flooding has persisted. Another so-called 100-year flood hit in 2018 with five inches of rain falling in a four-hour period.
Most recently, the city demolished a strip center this summer in the 2200 block of Charles Street to provide more green space to soak up stormwater.
In the future, it plans to widen Keith Creek through Churchill Park to create more capacity to handle heavy rains.
For Great Hang-Ups, Tope is trying to keep her businesses running while working toward a grand reopening.
For now, she’s still taking orders for rentals while the physical shop is being repaired.
“I’ve even delivered a few of them right to their homes to help them out, make it really easy and convenient,” she said.
Great Hang-Ups has operated in its same location since May 1988, and Tope has run the business for the past 20 years. She hopes to be able to reopen the store in September.
“We are working on turning this into a positive by giving us a refreshed look and a new look at the same time,” she said. “We want that grand opening to give a new vibe when they come in.”
Contact | Great Hang-Ups
Where: 613 S. Rockford Ave., Rockford
Phone: 815-229-8500
Email: greathangups@hotmail.com
Facebook: @greathangupsfashion
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
