WILLIAMSTOWN -- Francis and Helen Leavens are among the lucky ones.
The Champagne Avenue residents had their electricity turned on Wednesday night for the first time since water flooded their street as well as others in The Spruces Mobile Home Park during Tropical Storm Irene.
"We were elated," Helen Leavens said Thursday. "We sunk everything we had into this home during the last two years to have it the way we want it. The thought after Tropical Storm Irene that we might not be able to go back in was frightening."
The Leavens live in one of the retirement community's 58 homes that were cleared by health inspectors for human habitation this week.
While they had to make a few minor repairs to their home, it wasn't enough to trigger current building code requirements.
Now they're just waiting for the gas to be turned back on so they can go home, Leavens said.
However, she doesn't know when that will happen, she said.
Since Tropical Storm Irene hit on Aug. 28, the Leavens have been commuting to The Spruces daily from Easthampton, where they have been staying with their son.
"The First Congregational Church -- and the people of Williamstown -- have been wonderful in helping us out. We've gotten gas cards and a gift certificate to a local grocery store so we can get something to eat while we're here each day," she said.
Bachand Avenue resident Dianne Maselli doesn't expect to rebuild after
"It's too heartbreaking to rebuild," she said.
After she bought the mobile home, she put a lot of work into it to make it comfortable for her parents, and now it's gone, she said.
Robert and Janice Richards, also of Bachand Avenue, plan not to return to their mobile home following the flood.
"We were just notified today that there is a place waiting for us that is handicap accessible at the high rise in North Adams," Robert Richards said. "We're going to be moving there."
At 11 a.m. on Saturday there will be an informational meeting for park residents with Morgan Management at The Spruces recreation hall.
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