In March 1997, the river rose more than 24 feet above the flood stage, sending water rushing into town — killing five and flooding nearly 1,000 homes. The flood reached 50 feet at its height, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, breaking the record for the worst flood in the town’s history.

The storm has already wreaked havoc across the South and the Midwest, killing at least eight people, including a boy who was swept away by floodwaters in Kentucky.