It could have been a lot worse. Considering flood waters rose in Jefferson and Sumter counties to dangerous levels, Demopolis escaped the cresting of the Tombigbee River with no serious damage reported.

According to Senior Chief Tim Tremble with the local unit of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Tombigbee crested at 71.2 feet. Flood stage falls at 68 feet, meaning the Tombigbee did flood after torrential rains over the weekend.

On Monday afternoon, however, Tremble said the flooding banks had already begun to recede. By early afternoon, the water level had dropped to 69 feet.

While farmland bordering the river was saturated early this week, Mayor Austin Caldwell said Demopolis has a strong defense built against floods. In fact, Caldwell couldn’t remember the date of any serious flood that savaged the city.

Areas on Arcola Road did face the threat of being flooded, but even there, Caldwell said there wasn’t much of a problem.