LAKE STATION | Christine Caine carefully opened the door to her flood-ravaged mobile home in Riverside Trailer Park knowing full well what to expect.

"Ooooh. Just the smell alone," Caine said, wrinkling her nose.

She returned to her home, which is bordered by the Deep River, to gather important items she left behind, including an income tax document.

"It's sad. ... I'd love to stay," she said, blinking back the tears.

Caine said her mobile home, which took on more than 2 feet of water during the height of the flooding, can't be salvaged because of extensive water damage and mold.

She, her husband and 9-year-old daughter plan to look for a place to live in Valparaiso.

"As far as the park goes, I don't see it reopening," she said.

Residents of the mobile home park, as well as a number of families on the city's west side, were among those evacuated from their homes during last month's flood.

City officials have helped relocate residents, some to nearby hotels including the Majestic Star Casino. Others have moved in with relatives.

Shane Manns, whose mobile home also is bordered by the river, said he'd like to move back in but can't because the city hasn't turned back on utilities at the mobile home park or for several homes on the west end.

"I've lived here for 10 years. I don't want to have to move," he said.

He said city officials have not communicated what their plans are as far as the future of the mobile home park.

He's worried he may lose his home.

"I don't like Chinese telephone. Is the whole park condemned?" Manns asked.

Billie and Don Taraskewicz were in North Carolina when the flooding occurred and looked at the damage to their mobile home for the first time last week.

They've only lived in the mobile home park for a year after having moved to Lake Station from Spokane, Wash., and have scheduled an appointment to meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials later in the week.

"We don't know where to turn next," she said.

Residents who live in houses in the 2800 block of Wyoming Street said they, like those in the mobile home park, are waiting for FEMA officials and city officials to determine their fate.

"I just want a place I can take my family," Jon Walker said.

He and his fiancee, Renee Cannon, said water that flooded their home built in 1939 caused mildew and mold to deteriorate their floors and damage walls.

"It's disgusting," Cannon said, "I can't bring my babies back here."