DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some residents along the swelling Upper Mississippi River evacuated their homes this week while others scrambled Wednesday to stack sandbags in preparation for what forecasters say could be near-record flooding caused by the rapid melting of a huge snowpack in northern Minnesota.

A small number of people had to leave their homes in Wisconsin as the river kept rising. In the small riverfront community of Buffalo, Iowa, residents — wary of the devastating floods of 2019 — were stockpiling sandbags as they braced for flooding this weekend and early next week.