RENSSELAER, N.Y. -- "It was something to see," said Joe Santore, a resident of Rensselaer who was a victim of the August flood. "It's something that I'll never forget."

"I had just gotten out of the hospital," said Don Brady, who lives around the corner from Santore. "As soon as I seen {the flood waters} I said oh my god, I can't do this."

"'Bout two feet," Santore said pointing to a spot on his wall. "That's where the water level was."

"You ever see washers and dryers floating around in the water, a freezer full of food floating?" said Brady. "I don't even have a winter jacket. I don't have any winter clothes, hat, that was all destroyed in the flood."

Santore's sister-in law Viola had to be rescued by rowboat.

"They had to take me out in the bucket loader," he said. "Right off the porch."

Off the porch and out of the home where he's lived since he was born in 1931.

"Well, I didn't give up hope," Santore said. "I know hope was there."

And soon something else was, too.

"Help was there," said Santore.

"The water from the flood came up to this step," Brady said, pointing to his top cellar step.

Don Brady credited Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer with stepping up.

"He said I gotta get you back up, get you running, we're gonna get your furnace and your hot water heater in there first," Brady recalled. "He was out there what do ya need, what do ya need? It wasn't like anything else I'd ever seen."

"Strangers!" Santore exclaimed. "They donated money. That's how I got the rugs."

Soon, Housing and Urban Development sent contractors to turn Santore's mess around.

"They stripped all the walls to a four feet level," Santore explained. "Right down the studs. All the rooms. Same with the kitchen. Everything was stripped."

It took three months until Santore was back under his own roof. For Brady much less.

"Two days," said Brady.

Some valuables cannot be replaced.

"The kids’ pictures when they were younger," said Brady. "I'm not recovering half of what I've lost. And you never can."

And downstairs, Brady is worried Mother Nature will come knocking.

"It doesn't close properly, it's not fittin’ right," said Brady, struggling with a sticking cellar door.

But this Thanksgiving, his house was all lit up for dinner.

"Believe it or not, we're gonna have it here," said Brady.

And both men are empowered with a new understanding of their neighbors.

"I've learned about a few people in this city," said Brady. "And what they are. And what they mean to this city."

"You know how women have bridal showers?," Santore said. "I had a flood shower. That's what I call it. And people came, they donated money, they donated household goods. It was just amazing. This Thanksgiving I'll remember. Very much so. I'm thankful for it," said Santore. "{The flood’s} a tragedy, but then it turned out to be what it is now. Home. Beautiful."