(Radio Iowa) – While the flood fight and recovery continues in western Iowa, the eastern edge of Iowa is bracing for more rain and a rising Mississippi River.

The river has been steadily rising over the past week due to heavy rainfall, prompting flood warnings in parts of southeastern Iowa. Northeast Iowa has mostly been spared, giving Emergency Management Coordinators like Sarah Moser in Clayton County time to prepare.

“What’s always a concern for us is more rain and especially for the McGregor area because with what Wisconsin’s getting, it’s hard for the National Weather Service to predict then what the level will be,” Moser says, “so that always has us on our toes.”

The ground in the area is already saturated. “Not only do we’ve got to be worrying about the river rising, like the Mississippi, but also we would have some of those internal rivers like the Turkey River or Volga River, those quick rising ones,” Moser says, “as opposed to the Mississippi which is that slow rise.”

The river is forecast to reach 20 feet in Clayton County by the start of July, which would be near the levels reached during flooding in 2019.

The City of Davenport has deployed temporary barriers and water pumps along the Mississippi River in preparation for flooding.

Nicole Gleason, Davenport’s Public Works director

Nicole Gleason, Davenport’s Public Works director, says spring floods due to melting snow in the Mississippi River basin are easier to predict. Summer floods depend on the timing of rainfall.

“We can’t tell you exactly how much rain a storm is going to dump or where exactly that rain is going to go and if it will contribute to the Mississippi watershed or not, so at this point it’s really kind of a 24 hour (by) 24 hour basis,” she says. “We’ll just have to keep watching it daily and act accordingly.”

The city is offering sandbags to impacted residents. A number of parks and streets near the river have been closed. The Mississippi crest in Davenport is expected around July 4 and current forecasts indicate it will be far below the record set in 2019.

(Reporting by Grant Winterer and Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)