(Radio Iowa) — People in southwest Iowa are preparing for more flooding as recent heavy rains and rising river levels could push even more water beyond now-useless flood barriers. There’s a 12-hundred-foot breach on a levee south of Highway-34 in Mills County . Fixing it is a priority of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers but that could take until mid-June.

Mills County spokesperson, Sheri Bowen, says that’s one reason the county is being proactive-recommending that some areas prepare to evacuate as the Missouri River is projected to rise again. Bowen says the few people that had moved back into their homes in these areas since the March flooding have heeded the warning.

“We’re estimating around 5 families that were actively living in their properties and those families are no longer residing there temporarily,” Bowen says. She adds officials are closely watching Missouri River levels, since the county currently has no levee protection. “We wanted people who live west of the interstate there between the river to be very watchful and to be sure they were aware of the rising water and not caught by surprise, Bowen says. Bowen says most families in the areas had not yet returned to homes severely damaged from March flooding.