WINFIELD, Mo. — The Pin Oak levee that protects the City of Winfield in Lincoln County breached Sunday afternoon. The city was flooded shortly after the levee broke.
"Usually, we time this street to fill up in 3 hours. It filled up in 45 minutes,” a resident who has lived in the city for 59 years said.
Pin Oak's 24-inch levee walls were overtopped after a tough battle against the storm Saturday night.
Winfield-Foley Fire Protection District Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Lee said trees and logs were pushing against the levee, causing it to breach.
"We had a levee failure, where the levee actually shifted that we found, at that time. We knew at that point there was nothing we could to stop it, but we did everything we could," Lee said.
But the levee isn't the only one fighting mother nature.
Some residents are sticking it out, salvaging items that are close to their heart.
"I'm getting ready to head to my house and try to get my mother-in-law's ashes out of there,” one resident told 5 On Your Side.
The Winfield-Foley Fire Protection District are doing whatever they can to help those that are staying behind.
"Right now, we are in rescue mode,” Lee said. “We are trying to use all our resources to help people that need rescue.”
Lincoln County Emergency Management wants to remind everyone to stop coming down to Winfield to take photos of the historic flooding. This gives space available for all the residents trying to leave.
Lee said they've done several water rescues to help people driving through flood waters. They want you to remember: 'Turn Around, Don't Drown.'
Many who experienced the flood of 1993, the worst flood in history, said this flood reminds them of that year.
The river crested at 39.6 feet in 1993. Twenty-six years later, they are seeing projected numbers at 38.5 feet.
Other flooding stories:
- Downtown St. Louis sees near-record flooding, utility outages
- 3 kids arrested for removing sandbags as Metro East floodgates go up
- Kimmswick adds on to their levee as new crest projections rise
- Volunteers prep for at least 2 more feet of water in Alton
- In Clarksville, volunteers fear flood could top 1993 record