ANAMOSA - The Jones County community is preparing for record flooding Sunday night. The National Weather Service says the Wapsipinicon River could rise to more than 23 feet by Tuesday morning. That would put the crest just above the record set in May 2004.

John Dirks lives for flood season. The rush of what happens next is almost as strong as the rising Wapsipinicon itself. For 35 years, Dirks has looked to other towns upstream to offer his advice here in Anamosa.

"When they get at a certain point up there, we know that our water is going to be approximately this high here."

By relaying that information to crews here, Dirks lets volunteers know how tall their wall of sandbags should be.

Larry Driscoll, the city's public works director, says, "We've used up toward 17,000 depending on how high the river gets."

The wall along one dike will be three feet high, according to Dirks' latest flood forecast from Central City. Volunteers say they hope to finish it in time.

City Councilman Dan Young says, "We'd probably have to close the road for one thing."

Crews have already closed roads in south Anamosa. The water could soon threaten nearby homes.

Their biggest problem is the Waste Water Treatment Plant. If you take a look, you can see the cement barrier they've built to keep the floodwaters out. But they say, if the river continues to rise, they might have to add sandbags on top of that.

Sandbags from the record flood four years ago still sit near the plant. Then, the water rose to nearly 23 feet. This week, the Wapsi could break that. Crews will continue to block off the riskiest sections of the city.

Young says, "I'm not saying I'm a pro, but it's a lot of work."

Dirks isn't a pro either. He's just grown up around this river.

"You're already prepared. You don't have water going where you don't want it to go."

And after 35 years, he's learned the best preparation is learning how to predict the water's next move.