The levee in East Palo Alto was holding Monday night, one day after an overflowing San Francisquito Creek forced the city to issue mandatory evacuations for seven homes.

Crews said Monday that a temporary fix was expected to hold the levee until next fall when a nearly $30-million project would be underway.

But the real test would be on Christmas, when it was expected to start raining again.

Curtis Sims was flooded out of his home Sunday evening and he said the next night that he was worried about the water underneath is his house.

With 40-some years in their house, Curtis and his wife left when they saw the water bring tires into their yard.

"If it comes tomorrow then we just go through this again," said Sims. 

Earlier on Monday, KTVU spoke to the Len Materman, Executive Director of the San Francisquito Joint Powers Authority.

The regional agency is made up of three cities and two counties and takes care of flood control issues.

"The storm last night was the third highest flow rate storm in the history of this creek system since we've been measuring it in 1930," said Materman.

It was easy to see where creek water seeped through the levy and boiled up onto the other side.

East Palo Alto's new City Manager Magda Gonzales said with more rain on the way, crews needed to shore it up, and put sand bags down.

"We expect this will keep us through that time," said Gonzalez. "This will work through the spring. Hopefully no rain and no major rains between now and then they'll start the work in the fall."

East Palo Alto resident Spencenia Sims says the last flood coincided with her first bout with cancer, and on Sunday she found herself battling both cancer and flood waters again.

Yet neither can get her down, she said.

"As long as we have our lives, we have something to eat, you hear me, we cool," says Sims. [Laughing] "It's too late to move now."