US / Mississippi Makeshift Levees Protect Homes From Flooding Mississippi residents take matters into their own hands By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted May 19, 2011 5:51 PM CDT Copied A levee protects a home surrounded by floodwater from the Yazoo River near Vicksburg, Mississippi. (Getty Images) See 5 more photos Some homeowners are putting up a fight against the mighty Mississippi and its tributaries, notes Popular Science. The AP and Getty have remarkable images of homes near Vicksburg shielded by makeshift levees. It's "a testament to the human instinct to protect hearth and home," notes Clay Dillow. Click to read about the first fatality linked to the Mississippi flooding. (More Mississippi stories.) Report an error