COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs has halted testing of its tornado sirens amid Missouri River flooding.

The city’s public information officer, Don Gross, says the sirens were to have been tested July 10 but officials decided to hold off. He says there’s concern residents would think there was a flood-related emergency, such as a levee break or forced evacuations.

The Army Corps of Engineers is releasing massive amounts of water into the river from dams upstream. Those releases will keep the river above flood stage in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska at least into August.

Council Bluffs officials are urging residents to prepare for widespread flooding should a levee fail.