FAIRFAX — Residents along Little Duck Creek, which wreaked havoc on homes in Fairfax, have started to recover.

        They are working to clean up the damage; accept that invaluable mementos are destroyed; and deal with the loss of Ronald and Anna Davenport, a father and daughter who drowned when water rushed into their basement.

        By Friday, though, there was also frustration over delays in getting help. Some residents said they were bothered by the way the village responded and they felt put off by slow government processes.

        Mary Nugent has lost power, hot water and electricity. But, she says, the lost of memorabilia is the hardest.

        Still, her daughter-in-law, Melina Nugent, said Friday morning that no one had been by to talk to the family about the extent of the damage. They didn't even know if the water was contaminated.

        Cleanup of the house, as well as a five-room cottage in the back, has been going on since Wednesday.

        Barely a block away, the Bohlen family has been without gas and hot water since early Wednesday.

        Renee Bohlen and husband Mike have lived there for 11 years. They worked all day Wednesday and Thursday to clean their basement. By Friday they had done all they could and were waiting for village workers to hose the thick, dark mud off their lawn and sidewalk.

        The mud has a very strong odor and flies were plentiful.

        “We're at a dead stop,” Mrs. Bohlen said. “Every homeowner is just handling their own situation.”

        Her husband added: “There is a missing link with a disaster of this magnitude of what steps people need to take.”

        Mayor Ted Shannon said the village is doing all it can. Information packets on flood insurance were being prepared for homeowners of the 75 houses that were damaged.

        “You have to go through certain procedures in government. We have followed those procedures, and we are getting help,” he said.

        For many residents, help came in the form of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Red Cross. Sandra Guile, a spokeswoman, said 464 families had been affected by the floods. The organization has been serving food, providing financial assistance in the form of vouchers and issuing clean-up kits.

        The week had clearly taken its toll on many Fairfax residents.

        “I've lost track of days,” said Shelley Smith as she handed out muffins and doughnuts to her neighbors.

        And the loss of personal items is most wrenching, said Mary Nugent. She watched her children throw out expensive furniture and didn't cry. But when she saw the angel she and Bob — her husband of 33 years — used to top their Christmas tree, covered in mud, she couldn't hold back.

        “I had that forever,” the 58-year-old woman said. “I had so many memories of it.

        “I was sitting there crying, and I looked down and there was one of our wedding pictures,” she said. “It wasn't smeared or anything” she said of the black-and-white photo.

        Mr. Nugent died eight years ago from brain cancer. No matter how hard the family worked, she wouldn't be able to get her pictures back.

        “You keep it in your heart, but you can't hold it,” she said.

        It has been strenuous on officials, too. Terry Ramsey, assistant chief with Fairfax-Madison Place Fire Department, said the department's resources, 45 career and part-time volunteers, were “just exhausted.”

        “People are coming to the realization of what has happened,” he said. “They had all these volunteers around for the first 48 hours and now they are gone.”

        Some volunteers may have left, but not those helping Mrs. Nugent. Her three children and other relatives were there beginning Wednesday morning. They didn't plan to leave anytime soon.

        “I won't leave until it is done and clean,” said Melina Nugent as she pulled on a pair of dry socks and rubbed her legs, sore from lifting heavy furniture out of the basement.

        The elder Mrs. Nugent doesn't take her own personal volunteers for granted, either.

        “Thank God the good Lord above gave me three great kids.”

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