Joseph Rosso moved to his house on the Fox River in the Algonquin area less than a year ago.

But now, he’s been dealing with water on his property and in his basement with the river’s recent flooding.

Water got just above a retaining wall on his family’s property, but “sandbags held it in place.” Rosso said 156 sandbags were set up on his property to protect it from the water.

But water keeps draining into the family’s basement, Rosso said. That’s where the washer and dryer are and “all the laundry got wet” because it was on the floor, Rosso said.

Bedding and blankets waiting to be washed were among the items that got wet, he said, and there’s one blanket that needs to dry out before it gets thrown out.

The water also got under the basement floor paint.

“It was bubbling in spots,” Rosso said, adding the basement is not finished and there are no plans to finish it. His family will remove the water-filled paint and repaint the basement floor.

Rosso was among many community members who attended the Multi-Agency Resource Center on Saturday in Cary for those affected by the Fox River flooding. McHenry and Lake counties, in conjunction with the Red Cross, offered another flooding resource fair Friday in Wauconda as well.

Challyn Hyde, who lives in a channel off the river, said in 2017 her house flooded. This time around, floodwaters were limited to her yard, but she said some of her neighbors got water in their basements.

“I was lucky,” Hyde said, adding that a couple of rain events forecast ultimately skipped the area, which would have made the flooding much worse.

Hyde said she attended the resource center to learn about sandbags and what to do with them.

When flooding happens, Hyde said, it’s “not so much fun.”

Many resources – including cleaning kits and testing kits for wells – were on hand for those attending the resource fair, but those who couldn’t get to the fair can access help.

One way is to call 1-800-RED-CROSS, which is answered by a human 24/7, Hank Welch of the Red Cross said. When a person calls the Red Cross, they will be asked to give their name, address, contact information and description of need.

The person will be called back and a meeting set up to determine damages and what assistance is needed, Welch said. People are also assigned a caseworker who can help track their recovery.

Another way is for people to call 211 to get connected to assistance. Those who prefer texting can text their ZIP code to 898211 to reach resources that way.

County officials also encourage people to report their damage via a self-reporting survey at bit.ly/4sSAVHE. Officials have said more people need to fill out the survey in order to unlock more assistance.

According to McHenry County Emergency Management Agency documents, harms that can be reported include furnace, water heater and HVAC damage; spoiled food from power outages; electrical system issues and flooded septic systems or private wells. Lost wages because of a disaster also counts as damage but is often overlooked.