Lillian Lantford has lived through three floods during 20 years of renting at 550 Larimer Ave. in Turtle Creek, the latest when Thompson Run overflowed its banks during brutal thunderstorms Wednesday night.

She says she won't be around for a fourth.

"I gotta get outta here. I can't deal with any more floods. I can't do it anymore," Miss Lantford said yesterday as young men working for landlord Steve Stock cleaned mud out of her basement and first floor.

"I'm 57. I'm disabled. I live on Social Security and disability. ... Saturday, I just lay in bed all day and cried."

Among her losses this time: a new washer, a dryer, a 500-pound freezer and the van belonging to her boyfriend, Mark Kennedy.

"My boyfriend stayed overnight because he was afraid for me," Miss Lantford said, fighting back tears as she recalled the stormy night. "I asked him to get the dog out of the basement and told him he'd better move his van up the hill. By the time he got the dog out of the basement, he said it was too late to move the van."

Muddy floodwaters, which left a mark about 18 inches up Miss Lantford's front door, had slammed the van into a car and then the vehicles hit a telephone pole, she said.

Stories like Miss Lantford's were being told up and down neighboring Larimer and on Railroad and Church streets in Turtle Creek yesterday, as relatives and hired crews dug inches of mud out of basements and residents sorted through belongings that might be salvageable.

As they have since Thursday, volunteers from the Salvation Army passed out meals and specially designed flood cleanup buckets whose contents included a mop, broom, bleach, disinfectant and garbage bags. The Salvation Army coordinated relief efforts with the Red Cross, said Bob Myers, director of disaster services for the Salvation Army.

Turtle Creek was one of the communities hit hardest by storms that dumped as much as 3 inches of rain, sparking flash flooding in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

"We were told approximately 390 residences were affected in Allegheny County," Mr. Myers said. Many of the affected homes were in the area of the county known as the Turtle Creek Valley, he said.

Like Miss Lantford, Joe and Kerry Mihalak, who live at 502 Larimer, are ready to move out.

"Water filled our whole basement, up to the top step," Mr. Mihalak said while toting heavy buckets of mud to an empty field for dumping.

"It shattered our door," Mrs. Mihalak said. "Usually it's just water and it's gone in 10 or 15 minutes. This time there was water on the streets for an hour and a half. ... It was the worst we've ever seen it. We're done, we're going to move."

Thomas McNeice, 59, lives with his wife Carol in a second-floor apartment at 424 Church St. that overlooks Thomas Run. He said the water almost came to the top of the basement steps and left 4 to 5 inches of mud on the cellar floor.

"We lost our washer, our dryer. At Christmas, the landlord put a new boiler in. It's gone," said Mr. McNeice.

Mr. Myers said the Salvation Army had fed 2,800 meals and passed out 800 cleaning kits since Thursday. Cristina Baraky, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, said her agency passed out water and cleanup kits.

Today, the Salvation Army and the Red Cross will open an assistance office for flood victims in the Turtle Creek borough building. It will operate through Thursday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Caseworkers will be present and, Mr. Myers said, there are some limited funds available. Ms. Baraky said the Red Cross will find shelter for those who still cannot inhabit their home.