ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – As areas on both sides of the river near the weekend, many residents and communities are taking action to prepare for this weekend's rising water levels.

Pacific and Valley Park have been the main concern for flooding by emergency crews.

One flood gate in Valley Park at Marshall Road has been closed as of Thursday afternoon and will remain closed through the end of the weekend. The other flood gate at Vance Road is open as crews do not expect water to reach that area, but the road will still be closing Friday morning. Water in the area has reached the edge of the levee.

"With the forecast we had this morning, it said it was supposed to go to 30.5 feet, so we expected at that time that we would close this gate (at Marshall Road) and the Vance Road gate later today. As it turns out, they updated the forecast later this morning; now they have a peak stage predicted of 29 feet," Valley Park Flood Fight Team Leader John Boeckmann said.

When can you start betting on sports in Missouri?

Residents in Pacific prepared for potential flooding from the Meramec River Thursday. They put hundreds of sandbags around homes and businesses in the southern part of the town.

The city issued a voluntary evacuation order Wednesday before expected flooding conditions changed again Thursday.

"With the river crest dropping, that is beneficial—there are less residential and businesses that will be affected than we initially thought. So that is a good thing," Mayor Heather Filley said.

Filley added that they're expecting the crest on Friday and won't recede until later in the weekend.

"People are thinking that they'll be able to get in their homes quicker. Honestly, it really is a wait and see kind of thing. People will have to have their homes inspected before they're able to reenter them," she said.

Dewayne Kuelker was one citizen gathering sandbags Thursday for his home.

"I've been through it. I just feel bad for the people. To me, it is just a great experience to let the citizens know that there are still people out here that would do this. That would lend a hand and do this," he said.

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

Bommarito Automotive Group's SkyFOX has been flying over areas that have already been affected by the rain earlier this week, along with other areas that are now working to minimize any potential future damage from more rain this weekend.

Buder Park was mostly underwater, where you could see only the roof of a shelter. Just down the street on St. Louis Avenue, city workers were working under an overpass of a levee trail preparing for the flood wall to be put up.

The Kirkwood Athletic Association ballfields have been permanently closed due to their frequency of flooding, and they're once again completely underwater.

On the other side of the river, Illinois Highway 50 was closed in O'Fallon, which leads to Lebanon at Route 4. An IDOT truck could be seen blocking the road ahead of where water was over it.

There's been some improvement in Rolla, Missouri, where Interstate 44 has reopened following the road completely flooding Wednesday, bringing traffic to a complete stop. Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX captured water over the road and crews working to remove the mud off of the interstate while numerous tractor trailers were rerouting off of the highway.