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Flooding leaves mailboxes submerged in this Louisville neighborhood

Homeowners in the Riviera neighborhood are preparing their houses for what could be the worst flooding since 1997.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Every minute counts in the Riviera neighborhood, where many have already evacuated and others will be doing so in the next 24 hours. The neighborhood, near Blakenbaker and River Road, is always affected by Ohio River flooding.

"We just keep moving everything out,” homeowner Barbara Staley said.

More: Widespread flooding expected through weekend

On mission to move everything out of the bottom of her home, Staley is working fast. In a race against the Ohio River- time is running out by Friday afternoon.

She said, "It'll come through the garage and then come in through the garage door and then you need to leave your doors and windows open so it doesn't crack your foundation. Let the water run through, and you might have a few fish floating through, or whatever."

Staley said she's done this before, on this same street during floods of the '70s and '97. She remembers that flooding was bad and she's hopeful this will be better.

Staley said, "we started yesterday, moving stuff up out of the yard, a lot of stuff that was down here went up, and the big stuff is going in the truck. And we couldn't get a bigger truck at this point that was the biggest one we could get."

Moving trucks are hot commodity in this "high water" neighborhood. Homeowners and their families quickly packing up the bottom floors of their home to protect them from the rising water.

An indication of the rising water levels can be seen on the streets where many mailboxes are submerged in water and streets look more like streams.

"I mean it is what it is,” homeowner John Fleming said.

Fleming is focusing on his garage, where he is expecting about three feet of water by the end of the weekend.

"I have about a half hour to get this truck out of here before, and then I'll have the rest of the day to get things off the floor and go upstairs and the rest will just have to go to the Ohio river,” Fleming said.

He is focusing on big items that can’t be stacked on tables and electronics.

The river is the biggest threat in Riviera, where water continues moving toward homes.

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