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'This is what I lost' | Winfield homeowners clean up as river waters creep up for second time this month

Winfield-Foley firefighters are now watching the water levels for the second time this month. But with a huge hole in the middle of the main levee, there's nothing they can do to stop the flooding.

WINFIELD, Mo. — A Bible. Baby photos. Old movies. Tony Pena combs through the flood-damaged possessions now piled high in his yard.

"Yeah, this was my grandmother's," Pena said. "This is what I lost."

Pena says he fought flood waters for three days earlier this month, but finally, the water pressure broke out his basement window and came pouring in like a waterfall.

"The water got all the way to here," Pena said pointing about seven feet up the wall. "It got all the way to here, and it stopped."

Winfield-Foley firefighters are now watching the water levels for the second time this month. But with a huge hole in the middle of the main levee, there's nothing they can stop flooding for people like Pena.

"They're at the mercy of the river level," Asst. Fire Chief Aaron Lee said. "There's no protection. So if this water is to come up, there's no stopping it."

Pena has again piled sandbags by the basement, combing through the wreckage for items he can save, while he talks about moving.

"It'll be a little bit harder this time," Pena said. "It will."

Even those who were spared by the last flood aren’t letting down their guards.

"You take it serious. You could lose your house, you could lose just about everything you got,” Ed Carson said. 

He built himself a fortress from the flood. 

"Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 3,600 bags,” he said. 

They’re packed with 8 tons of sand, stacked strategically around his home of nearly four decades.

"If it happens, we'll be ready,” he said. 

Follow reporter Sara Machi on Facebook and Twitter.

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