HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) – A temporary earthen levee is now the only barrier standing between the small southwestern Iowa town of Hamburg and the floodwaters of the Missouri River. Officials are hoping efforts to beef it up will be enough to keep the small southwestern Iowa town from filling up like a bathtub.

Crews working for the Army Corps of Engineers hope to pile at least three feet of extra dirt atop the levee before this (Wednesday) evening. If the levee fails, parts of the town could be covered by as much as 10 feet of water within days. And,  high water could linger for months.

The earthen levee became Hamburg’s last line of defense after the river punched through another levee downstream in northwest Missouri that provided the town’s primary protection.