five generations at the jm jones lumber company, but i find him strictly in the business of surviving. building up and trying to hold together a levee that keeps his family's business from being swept away. >> are you confident you can hold the river back? >> absolutely not. no, i mean, i'm confident that it's not going to go over my levees, but i'm not confident that enough of this is going to cave off and i'm going to have a breach. i would say it's 50/50. >> reporter: it's been four weeks since lumber operation ceased and all resources went into building up the company's existing levee. up to eight feet higher in some places. now they're constantly plugging, bag, and patching what the river gouges away. >> you can tell this is a patch deal here. our primary tarp was ripped. >> reporter: confounding the problem, river traffic. boats pushing barges upstream