CEDAR RAPIDS -- The Cedar River has retreated to its banks, but many people still have no place to call home. Many homes in Cedar Rapids still aren't safe for people to live in. Some have spent more than a week sleeping on cots in shelters. It's an uncomfortable situation, but flood victims still try to stay positive.

Alexandria Steele has lived in a Red Cross Shelter for the past five days. She passes the time by reading books.

"I just started a brand new book by James Patterson,” Steele said.

Steele can't move back home because there's still no power in her neighborhood. Life in the shelter comforts her a bit, but also creates stress, too.

"It's been a big adjustment because I'm kind of a loner. I guess you could say being around a whole lot of people all day long -- you can just imagine,” she said.

As Raymond Krug flips through photos of his destroyed house, he realizes how much has changed.

"That's the most difficult part -- not having a home to go to -- a place that's yours or mine,” he said.

Eight-year-old Cecilia Ndbambarire keeps her mind off the flooding by drawing pictures to remind her of happier times.

"When I started coloring, I colored nine pictures and I couldn't stop,” she said.

The drawings and messages scribbled throughout the shelter help everyone get through the day.

It'd be easy to slip into sorrow during a situation like this, but these people have realized that having a positive attitude makes everything easier to handle.

The Red Cross shelter has about one hundred people living there right now. The agency says it will keep the shelter open for as long as people need it.