“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.

Lesley Kaluzne, regional disaster manager of the Red Cross, said the organization's focus is continuing its assessment of properties affected by the flooding.

She said Friday that they had assessed 364 homes that were affected, and were in the process of assessing more.

Kaluzne also said the organization wouldn't have a monetary estimate of property damage until the assessments were complete.

People received donations such as food, water and cleaning supplies from the Red Cross.

Councilman Kathy Kline said five dumpsters were put into place by Vogel Disposal Service Friday morning.

Kline praised emergency responders for the cleanup they've done, and noted the progress of their efforts.

“Things have stabilized to the point that the phone calls come in randomly at the (fire) station now,” she said.

She also said the city's goal continues to be to “help folks to get back to some sense of normalcy as quickly as possible.”

That includes getting electricity and gas turned back on. Both were turned off in the affected areas following the flooding for safety reasons.

Those whose homes or electrical equipment were damaged by the flooding need to have an electrical inspection done on their property before electrical service can be reconnected.

Nora Barker, who recently moved to Butler and lives at 548 W. Brady St., doesn't have her power on yet, but still was impressed by the community effort to help her and her neighbors.

“I think it's been an awesome coming-together of the community, and I'm overwhelmed by the people who stopped by to offer aid,” she said.

One of those people was Lisa Marron, a Butler School District teacher.

“I don't live in town but a lot of these families are family members of kids that I teach, and sometimes the least-equipped areas get hit hardest, so they need all the help they can get,” Marron said. “I think any able-bodied person that can donate some time should try to do so in the coming days.”