Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs says even through the Mississippi River is supposed to crest on Friday, at 52 feet above sea level, they're not taking any chances.
"We made our preparations for about 56 feet crest," said Flaggs.
Flaggs talked about flood preps at a news conference recently. He said the wall at the river is finished, The Old Depot Museum is sandbagged and pumps are in place, people have evacuated low-lying areas and the pets with animal control have been relocated. Flaggs was joined by mayors from Greenville and Rosedale, Mississippi and Vidalia and Tallulah, Louisiana. They're part of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, an organization formed to share preparedness information. Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland.
"As mayors north of us sustain impacts, they're relaying valuable insight to us down the river. For instance Mayor Walker of Alton, warned us to watch for mudslides, a danger more prevalent in winter events because there's less vegetation," said Copeland.
As the river crests up north , Mississippi mayors say they're focused on getting people out of harms way. Greenville Mayor Erick Simmons.
"We have Lake Ferguson there and so we did shut-off a couple of roads and we have relocated those residents on Lake Ferguson, because of the high water," said Simmons.
Rosedale Mayor Carey Estes says they're helping people move out and watching water levels.
"Watching our levees and also shutting down the hunting season, things that's going on there," said Estes.
The mayors said the lessons they learned from the 2011 flood have helped them better prepare. They praised the assistance they're receiving from state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They will go to Washington, DC in March, to lobby congressional delegations for more funding to repair levees that extend from Minnesota to Louisiana.
