WINFIELD, Mo. — Town officials in Winfield are expecting their levee to break.
That would send water rushing into the Lincoln County town.
It's why the Assistant Fire Chief is telling people to pack up their things and get ready to leave.
"I mean we got everything sandbagged and then it started leaking through our garage so we put everything up in the loft, but other than that there's not really much you can do," said Winfield resident Rebecca Miller.
Her house is now surrounded by floodwater, but instead of soaking in the sadness of the situation Miller is making the most of it by fishing in her front yard.
Her neighbors have to use boats just to leave their houses.
"You get down that way and it's waist deep so you can't even walk. On the depth finder on the boat we went down there and it was four foot," added Miller.
To keep that from happening to the rest of town, a major sandbagging effort was underway Monday.
"I would urge people to plan for the worst, plan for the levee to break," said Assistant Fire Chief Arron Lee.
The last thing people are praying for is more rain.
"We hope this rain event doesn't create another significant crest next week but we're keeping a close eye on that. Right now I would definitely urge people to get their belongings out and plan for the worst," added Lee.
Further complicating flooding in Winfield was a pipe that was leaking water back into town. It took a dive team two attempts on two different days to be able to successfully seal it.
The Mississippi is still sitting at its crest level of 36 feet six inches and all that water is putting a lot of pressure on levee walls.
More flood-related stories:
- More rain and thunderstorms in the forecast this week
- Basements and streets flood in Alton as the Mississippi River continues to rise
- With one levee already overtopped, Winfield hopes to hold off more water
- Mandatory water conservation order issued for Illinois American Water customers in Metro East
- Rainy week ahead could bring second Mississippi River crest
- 'Business is open': Flooding doesn't stop Kimmswick shops
