Area braces for release of more water
Helicopters were used to drop huge sandbags on a levee and a crew of prison inmates worked to create a makeshift dam Saturday as officials in the rural border city of Presidio braced for the possibility of more water being released from a Mexican reservoir.
Work also began on an effort to save a weakened levee protecting the city from the Rio Grande.
Workers planned to line a section of the levee with heavy plastic anchored by sandbags to keep water from leaking through.
Officials in Presidio had expected a significant drop in the Rio Grande water level by Saturday evening after Mexican officials said they would reduce the amount of water being released from the Luis Leon Reservoir.
But that possibility became uncertain as more rain fell in Mexico.
The Rio Grande at Presidio, a dusty border city of nearly 5,000 about 250 miles southeast of El Paso, has been threatened by flooding for nearly two weeks because of torrential rain in Mexico and the forced release of water from the Luis Leon Reservoir.
That water flows into the Rio Conchos, which feeds the Rio Grande.
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