Floodwaters at bay in Clarksville, Missouri

CLARKSVILLE, MISSOURI--JUNE 21, 2008--In the town of Clarksville, Missouri, Kaniya Wilson, 8, left, and her brother Lavion Willson, 9, play on the sand bags protecting the town of Clarksville, Missouri. mMembers of the Missouri National Guard have been instrumental in saving the downtown from major flooding by building and maintaining sandbag barriers the keep the floodwaters back.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Sarah Grimmett, 85, has spent her entire life in Clarksville and has seen three major floods. She remains in her apartment on the waterfront with the help of Missouri National Guards members. With the floodwaters set to recede, observes say a month of dry, balmy weather could spell the difference between a limited disaster and the kind of full-scale crisis that gripped the upper Mississippi River basin for months after the historic floods of 1993.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Missouri National Guards members monitor the sand bags near a home in Clarksville. The storms and flooding in the Midwest region have caused 24 deaths and billions of dollars in damage since late May that will take months to clean up.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

National Guardsman Sgt. Dan Burkett has been working for a week to protect Clarksville, from a bigger flood disaster.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)