OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Experts say more Missouri River levees are likely to fail throughout the summer because months of high water will put tremendous pressure on the system. Older, rural levees are especially at risk because they’re likely to be shorter and less well-built than levees protecting urban areas.

Missouri University of Science and Technology professor David Rogers says most of the levees along the Missouri River are agricultural ones that weren’t engineered to withstand flooding. So far, most levees have held along the 811 miles the Missouri travels from the last dam in South Dakota to its confluence with the Mississippi River near St. Louis.

But with every additional day of high water, the levees are more likely to develop problems.