Flood victim Noel Logan was about to prepare the turkey her mother gave her for Christmas when she realized something.

She couldn't afford the electricity.

The family's electric bill climbed to about $460 this month from the usual $150 per month, after they used heavy-duty wet vacuums to dry out their home. The water bill went to $400 this month because of a leak caused by the flood of Dec. 11.

So Logan's family, boyfriend Alvin Pontes and their two daughters celebrated a scaled-back Christmas at their Makaha home, their carpet moldy from the rain and sewage that seeped in. Logan went to her mother's place to cook the turkey.

“;How are we gonna even get a tree if we can't pay the bills?”; said Pontes, a Big Island native on a fixed disability income. “;They're catching us left and right, but nobody cares.”;

“;We're lucky to have food money,”; Logan added.

The family lost both its cars after muddy floodwater filled them above the dashboard. They also lost their washer, dryer and an ice chest full of food.

Logan, 41, is still trying to figure out how to get her daughters, ages 11 and 7, to school next month. The school is out of their district.

“;It would've been a better Christmas if I didn't have to spend money on repairing things,”; Logan said.

Pontes said the family has tried going to food charity groups like the Hawaii Foodbank, but Oahu's nonprofit food suppliers have been running low on supplies due to the economic downturn.

Logan said when she went to the food bank, she came back home with 20 bottles of salad dressing, a case of soda and a box of M&M's. On another try she came back with old vegetables.

“;Have you ever had a cucumber where you can just cut the top off and squeeze the rest out like toothpaste?”; Pontes asked. “;That's what they give you. How are you supposed to live off of that?”;

But Logan said she was grateful to be surrounded by the people she loved at Christmas.

There have been about 500 requests for assistance from Oahu residents hurt by high wind and heavy rain this month, according to the state Civil Defense. Kauai suffered more than $2.5 million in damage.

Gov. Linda Lingle has asked the federal government to declare Oahu and Kauai disaster areas.

Teresa De Peralta, 48, saw no shortage of government aid. The Honolulu Fire Department and state Civil Defense officials stopped by her home because the foundation had shifted during the flood.

To stop the water from flooding her Upena Street home, her sons pounded out a hole in a surrounding rock wall to let the water out. The eight-bedroom home she rents with her six children and family sustained about $80,000 worth of damage, she said.

But the storm only added to her holiday stress. This was the first Christmas without her husband, Gary De Peralta, 34, who died in May after a construction accident at Campbell Industrial Park.

But she was determined to make the most of the holiday. On Christmas Eve about 80 of her family members gathered at her home, with a Santa Claus to entertain guests. Her children received all the toys they wanted.

“;I'm going to struggle a bit after this month, but I just wanted to give them what they wanted,”; she said, holding back tears. “;He would've done the same. He loved the kids. I tried to do what he would want. That's why we went on with our Christmas.”;