KEOSAUQUA — Preparation and a positive attitude have lent strength to the levees and people of Van Buren County.

“As it stands now, all our levees are holding. There’s a few minor leaks [that] are being handled,” said Jerry Calnon, the emergency management coordinator in Van Buren County. “Drinking water remains usable, the sewers are functioning. So far our protection of critical assets has been successful. I’m not saying we might not have some failures, but at this point everything is holding.”

He credits the people of Van Buren County and assistance from the state for the current success.

“It’s preparation. People have worked very, very hard,” Calnon said. “You’ve got a very positive group of people down here and it’s showing in this.”

He said his Monday morning trip through the communities of Van Buren County showed all “active” sandbagging has been done. Pumps are going to take care of any seepage, and volunteers are on hand in case they need to troubleshoot. There’s a little bit of “patching” going on, but not much.

Some volunteer workers are resting, and some have even gone to their regular jobs, Calnon said. But the real test would be overnight on Monday and then the next few days.

“I understand the crest has gotten past Douds [Monday] morning and is ... working it’s way through the county. We’re hoping to have it through the county by late tonight. Then it’s a matter of maintaining the levees until the water gets down. ”

And in that respect he had some good news.

“The [U.S. Corps of Engineers] has cut the flow from 100,000 [cfs] to 95,000 [cfs], so what’s coming to us is going to be reduced,” he said.

That doesn’t account for any heavy rains, though, he said.

“We should come through this pretty well.”

Calnot said he had not heard of any mandatory evacuations, but some residents aren’t taking chances.

“I have seen some people hauling property, but those were voluntary. I think most of the [voluntary] evacuations in Van Buren County were based on knowledge from previous flooding,” he said.

While most infrastructure in Van Buren County is holding up, roads, especially those near the river, have had their share of problems.

“Quite a few are closed. Generally, all the river roads are closed, that is, roads that are following along the river,” he said. “We have some low-lying blacktops that are closed, the bridges at Douds and Selma are closed.”