ADRIAN (AP) - Six months ago, floodwaters surged through Adrian and parts of LaMoure County, into basements, backyards and main floors. More than seven households in the town of about 50 people southeast of Jamestown were displaced.

Since then, those families and others with water damage have sanitized, gutted and rebuilt. Some still are without permanent homes and others worry about flooding again.

Part of the struggle, homeowners say, is waiting to see what kind of assistance they qualify for, if they qualify at all.

About 36 LaMoure County homes may be at risk of future flooding, said Sheri Gartner, the LaMoure County emergency manager. To save the homes and to potentially save taxpayer dollars, the county is participating in a property acquisition program that allows homes in flood-prone areas to be bought out, demolished or moved to higher ground.

One of those interested homeowners is Reid Jawaski. His basement flooded in March and the water didn't leave until May.

The pressure knocked out two of his basement walls, leaving it vulnerable to weather and wildlife. A stack of bricks in the northeast corner remains, holding the home upright.

Jawaski said he received some financial assistance, but less than half of what it would cost to repair the damage to his home. He wants to move on.

"We've been waiting a long time," he said.

"No, it ain't normal," Jawaski said, standing in the driveway of the home he's owned since 1996. "It'll never be back to normal."

If a homeowner like Jawaski applied for the acquisition program, he could qualify for some federal and state aid, Gartner said. Through the program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pays 75 percent, the state pays 10 percent and the homeowner pays 15 percent of the demolition or relocation of the home.

Floodwaters seeped into the home of Adrian resident Pat Rode along the James River, but since then, she and her husband, Loren, have made most of the repairs.

Her son and daughter-in-law, Lucas and Shawna Rode, have yet to move back into their home, which at its peak, had water up to its main level. Doris Rode, Pat's mother-in-law, had water for so long, the basement walls now bow inward.

Each of the three homes may participate in the acquisition program, Pat Rode said, but already, the families are working on permanent homes.

"The wheels of government turn way too slowly," she said. "We're not in a position to wait."

Lucas and Shawna Rode plan to move their home to higher ground. Already, the family has built and paid for a road, working through soybean and corn fields.

Doris Rode moved to an apartment in LaMoure while her family builds her a new home just southeast of the home where she spent her entire married life.

The repairing and rebuilding can be expensive, Pat Rode said. Building Doris' home will cost about $30,000 because her family can do most of the labor. But the question of funding could take two years to answer, Pat Rode said.

"You can't sit and do nothing for two years," she said.

Like the Rodes, Jawaski, who moved into a modular home on a hill, has spent money he was saving for retirement on his new home.

"It's tapped us all out," he said.

Pat Rode is building a permanent dike around her home. It could cost around $30,000. She said waiting for funding is not an option because the floodwaters could return in the spring.

"I mean what do you do? Just wait to get flooded again?" she said.