Residents of Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park in Sycamore were able to return to their homes early Thursday.

Evergreen Village owner Frank Santoro said electrical power was restored for the first time since it was shut off Sunday. The majority of the water in the park receded, allowing residents to return.

Santoro said this year’s flood was smaller than last year’s by a few inches.

“Some houses got water damage, but not as much as last year,” Santoro said.

Village resident Tim Nelson said his house was water-free because it’s higher than the other homes; But Nelson said he still suffered losses.

“Everything on the porch is ruined,” Nelson said, including a brand-new refrigerator. One of his cars was also submerged, forcing Nelson to wait until it dries before he can try to start it.

Although he hadn’t checked yet, Nelson spoke with positivity that the items in his shed, including a weed wacker and a lawn mower, were ruined by the flood. Nelson, who works with his wife in her concessions business, said he was unsure if the water damaged the food in his food trailer.

Santoro said he was frustrated by the fact that the village has suffered two major floods in two consecutive years.

“I’ve been here for 30 years, and this has happened too many times,” Santoro said, citing the 1996, 2007 and this year’s storm that flooded the village.

He said he supports a mitigation plan in which the government would buy the land and the houses in the village. He said he’s talked about this with other residents and they are open to the idea.

“It’s hard to say why we’ve been here this long,” Santoro said.

But it’s not that easy.

Dennis J. Miller, coordinator of DeKalb County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the county are the ones who are able to make that decision.

“It’s really up to FEMA and a taxing body to decide whether or not to mitigate,” Miller said.
Miller also said officials from FEMA and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) will be visiting the areas in DeKalb County that flooded this past weekend to assess the damage.

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