BUFFALO, Ia - A race against time as the river rises in Buffalo on Thursday, May 2.
It's a place that has no flood wall and no HESCO Barriers. The only line of defense in the flooded town are sandbags.
A resident tells News 8 he is terrified as water continues to seep through sandbag walls built by his family.
People rushed to rebuild the sandbag walls that had failed overnight as the Mississippi River inched closer to it's crest.
"One of the local businesses right around the corner here, Clark's Landing, unfortunately their front barrier on the south side of the building did fail this morning and did flood their building," said Sgt. Alex Gries with the Buffalo Police Department.
Police and firefighters continue working around the clock with volunteers to get help where it is needed.
On Thursday, neighbors were waking up before sunrise and rushing outside to help. It's been a long-effort spanning multiple days.
"Multiple basements and homes have been flooded. Citizens have had to evacuate their homes due to the flooding. The fire department has used their personal boats to rescue some families from their homes and to get them out safe," said Sgt. Gries.
Flooding is something these residents deal with every year. But, residents say this year is different.
"There's no flood wall. There's nothing to protect it. Most years though, we build sandbags but we don't have to worry about the river ever touching them. But this year, this is the first year I've ever had to deal with this in my life," said Shoemaker.
Families trying to save downtown Buffalo, as the fight against this flood continues.
