the levees and others are bagging sand in correctional institutions . `` We were very , very disappointed that this levee broke today , '' said Thompson . `` It 's a very powerful river , and it can be hard to harness . '' With the help of the National Guard , Sebastian and his fellow residents hustled Tuesday to build a barrier between Gladstone and the encroaching floodwaters . Even though Gladstone is about four miles from the banks of the Mississippi , the rising floodwaters have submerged homes and created rivers where crop fields once stood . The muddy townspeople worked with anxious resolve , cracking the occasional joke , as they filled bags with sand and dirt and loaded them onto ATVs . On the receiving end were members of the Illinois National Guard , who piled up the sandbags as the tops of cornstalks rose above the waters behind them . `` Threats can happen in all shapes and forms , so we are trying to help out , '' said National Guardsman Capt. Lanny Finn , whose unit previously served in Iraq . `` We 'll be here for as long as we 're
GLADSTONE , Illinois -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Residents of this small town in Illinois , like many others who live along the banks of the surging Mississippi River , raced against the clock Tuesday to erect a makeshift levee as rising floodwaters threatened . Residents of Gladstone , Illinois , work with the National Guard to create a makeshift levee . `` I 'm not moving , not moving my business , '' said Byron Sebastian , a longtime resident of Gladstone , Illinois , who also serves on the city council . `` We 've got a lot of good people here helping to try to save this part of town . '' Gladstone is one of many towns under threat Tuesday after rising waters breached a 300-foot area of a levee near Gulf Port , Illinois , before 5 a.m. Levees all along the mid-Mississippi were being topped with sandbags Tuesday as the river , fed by its flooded tributaries , continued to rise . Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich called up 1,100 National Guard members to assist in sandbagging efforts , said Patti Thompson of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency . She also said inmates are helping on