AUSTELL - Austell residents weren't getting the answers they wanted at Monday night's City Council meeting. Last week, Mayor Joe Jerkins invited homeowners to attend the meeting to ask the council questions regarding September's disastrous flooding. Nearly 100 people showed up at City Hall, which left many residents standing or sitting on the floor.

The crowd was unhappy with many of Jerkins' answers, and had to be called to order several times.

Frustration hasn't died down in the city yet, Jerkins acknowledged before the meeting.

"There are a lot of people still wanting to blame someone. We can't control the rain. I'll do what I can to answer their questions, but I'm also going to run the meeting," he said.

Like prior meetings, residents voiced their concerns about re-evaluating the flood plain, the slow response of city officials and what to do about Sweetwater Creek. Mulberry Creek subdivision homeowner Jill Robbins came to the meeting with a January 2009 Federal Emergency Management Agency announcement, which she read before the crowd. The announcement was mailed out to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, she said, but Austell residents were never made aware of the notice. It contained changes to the city's floodplain.

"From what I've been told and data, our subdivision should have never been built. The fact that these (floodplain) maps don't get done in a relative fashion - the last one was done in 1995 - that's way too long. Now, we're just stuck. Thirty thousand dollars from FEMA is great, but it doesn't help when you've got $80,000 worth of damage. If I would have been told to apply for flood insurance, this wouldn't have been a problem," Robbins said.

Residents of the Cypress Club and Cove subdivision said there has been a lack of progress and leadership by Mayor Joe Jerkins in helping the city recover after September's record flood.

"Answers have not been given to address a timeline for what's been put in place to prevent another flooding catastrophe in neighborhoods where some homes had as much as 12 or more feet of water. I am one of them," said Janie Boyland, board member of the Cypress Club and Cove Homeowner's Association.

City officials said it would be about two more weeks before homeowners will get the city's final assessments on damage. One resident begged for the process to be expedited so she could get a letter to her mortgage company and delay her payments.

Residents said the city has been less responsive to their needs than their Cobb County counterparts, who have held several flood meetings since the Sept. 21. Two of the county's meetings were held in Austell, and County Commissioner Woody Thompson in Powder Springs held a third.

Cypress Club and Cove homeowners said Monday they are also concerned about vacancy in the hardest hit areas, increasing crime throughout the city and lack of information being provided by city officials.

"Many homeowners are at a standstill because the cost of rebuilding is too great to throw away good money at a bad investment, where the property value is worse than it was before the flood," Boyland said. "Why was venture homes granted a permit to build in our community when it was classified by FEMA as a flood zone in 1979? Our community just feels that we have not received any direct answers from our mayor."

Jerkins said before Monday night's meeting that he's been steadily working to help Austell residents. The city's Web site has a link for homeowners to fill out mortgage information, which Jerkins said he'd take to mortgage companies.

"I want to see if they can do something for these homeowners - maybe postpone their interest for 12 months," he said. "I think it would be to (the mortgage companies') benefit to work with the people."

Last week, Jerkins said he has asked FEMA to buy 75 homes in his city, where the flood ravaged approximately 700 residences. He concedes, however, that it will be a long process before the purchases come to fruition.

Residents have drilled city and county officials about buyouts, while others continue to voice concerns over Austell's Sweetwater Creek, which has a propensity to flood.

Jerkins said he has been trying to obtain a 1995 Army Corps of Engineers study on the creek. He said Monday night he still hasn't obtained the report.

"I'm going to push to get an underground tunnel to be installed in Sweetwater Creek that would go for six or seven miles and would empty downstream, where it doesn't flood," he said. "I really need that study to get going."