BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS, Mo. — Bellefontaine Neighbors in St. Louis County called for volunteers to sandbag along Maline Creek for the first time in years.
A small group of mostly off-duty police officers, firefighters, and EMTs joined efforts to fill sandbags on Monday.
"We don't have enough people to get this done," Bellefontaine Neighbors Chief of Police Jeremy Ihler explained.
They are trying to fill enough sandbags to build a four-foot wall along a roughly 200 yard stretch of land in front of homes on Marias and Lebon drives. If volunteers cannot finish sandbagging on Monday, they will try to before rain arrives Tuesday.
"I'm hoping that we can stop this and save homes," volunteer David Naumann told 5 On Your Side.
Naumann grew up in Bellefontaine Neighbors and while he personally has never had trouble with flooding, he has helped his neighbors prepare in the past.
"In 1973 we were successful, but the river level reached 43 feet. In 1993 of course, it reached 49 feet and besides everybody's best efforts it came to not,” Naumann said.
Water is starting to overflow from the nearby storm drains into some backyards along Marias and Lebon drives. If they are not capped, those homes should expect more extensive flooding in the upcoming days.
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