The flooding Wednesday night damaged the lower section of Alameda Park, including this section of Alameda Park Road. The lower section of the park was closed Thursday. The bocce court and playground in that area of the park remain closed, but the shelters are open this weekend.

“It's overwhelming.”

Those were Dorothy Callihan's words of gratitude Friday as she watched her community band together to aid in cleanup following Wednesday's flooding.

Callihan lives at 533 W. Brady St., where water from the flooding of Sullivan Run came up to the top step of her porch.

Her backyard was caked with mud and her basement was completely flooded. So, Callihan was ecstatic when she heard that Helping Butler County, a volunteer organization run by Scott Dittman, was coming to her home to help clean it up. Dittman said he was glad to help.

“It's just kind of what we do,” Dittman said.

He was one of many who lent a helping hand, including people who just wanted to aid their neighbors during a tough time.

Dannielle Bland, who lives at 521 W. Brady St., said she's been moved by the way neighbors have joined together and fought to reclaim their own homes. As Bland worked to clean up her own home Friday she recounted watching a man hand out 42-gallon contractors bags to help residents dispose of garbage created by the flood, and two teenage girls covered in mud carrying items out of a neighbor's flooded basement.

“It's amazing to watch this,” Bland said. “Everybody's going from house to house like, 'What needs to be done from here?' All these people showed up. My whole street came together. It's just amazing. You find out who people are and talk, and find out that you're not that much different.”

She also gave credit to the American Red Cross' presence.

“It was amazing, because they understand what we're going through and what we're doing,” Bland said of relief workers' sweep through the neighborhood Thursday.