CHILLICOTHE, Mo. — As floodwater laps at the edges of highways and backyards and drowns outer roads and farmland, residents are doing what they can to battle back the rising tide.

Flooding along the Grand River, along with other rivers and streams, forced the closing of U.S. Highway 36 five miles east of Chillicothe on Thursday. Some residential areas in the southwest part of Chillicothe also experienced flooding. Water over the road near Thompson River in the western part of Chillicothe prompted resident Ron Hughes to get his boat.

Mr. Hughes must use the boat to get through a quarter of a mile stretch of Third Street, where water prevents his truck from crossing. It’s an inconvenience, but one Mr. Hughes prefers over evacuation.

“Water gets in the garage, but I’ve got everything put up for that,” he said. “I’m ready for (the water), it’s just kind of a routine. I got a checklist I go through.”

Because this is the second time in two years that the southwest corner of the city has seen major flooding from the Grand River, many residents remain unfazed. Mark Stephenson said he is ready to evacuate if he needs to.

“It’s never come up across Gilbert Street here that I’m aware of,” Mr. Stephenson said of the street separating his front yard from possible flood danger as he pointed west toward less fortunate residents.

Water was close to some yards on intersecting Keith Avenue while the bottom half of one home was already submerged.

Down the road, Greg Kille is a repeat victim of floodwater, but it hasn’t permanently driven his business, Mautinos Cycle Center, from its 30-year location in the southwest corner of the city. By noon Thursday, there were 3 inches of water in his building, but Mr. Kille and lots of volunteers already had moved about 60 crates and 50 assembled units to higher ground to avoid water damage. His inventory suffered extensive damage last year, which caused him to get a jump start on moving.

“It exceeded their expectations last time for river height,” Mr. Kille said. “They told us it was going to crest long before it did.”

Across the road, the scene was just the opposite as Joe Pope and a crew of volunteers scrambled to get sandbags around the Chillicothe R-II School District administration offices.

“There’s no real art to this, just stack them as they fall,” Mr. Pope directed his crew.

He called in volunteers mid-afternoon to help with the effort that he had started at 3 a.m. Thursday. “We’re going to get hit,” he said. “It came up quite a bit today.”

Joe Rinehart, emergency management director for Chillicothe and Livingston County, said the majority of Chillicothe is on high ground and above the 1993 flood plain. No injuries have been reported as a result of the less than 3 inches of rain that has fallen since Tuesday, and only a few county roads are closed.

Mr. Rinehart said nearby Gallatin and Chula received about 8 inches of rain this week, which caused railroad tracks in Chula to wash out. “They were hauling ballast rocks in there to get it redone,” he said.

The Grand River is still rising, and Mr. Rinehart said it is expected to crest at just over 35 feet. Flood stage is 24 feet.