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The swollen river had burst through a levee protecting about 100 homes in the last dry portion of the small Missouri town north of St. Louis, and troops responded Friday by deploying a Hesco barrier, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The product, made of plastic and steel mesh, is used widely in Iraq to shield facilities from gunfire and rockets.

But by mid-morning Saturday, the homes were surrounded by water, The New York Times reported.

"This is the grand finale here", said Bob Foust, 57, who praised the soldiers who tried to save his home and the others.

"I think they're more heartbroken than the actual victims. They tried so hard."

Col. Michele Melton of the Missouri National guard said she had " seen more men cry in these last nine or 11 days than I've ever seen cry in my lifetime."

"We'll learn lessons from this, it's the military way", said Col. Wendul G. Hagler II, joint chief of staff with the Missouri National Guard. "It was a fight worth fighting, win or lose."

Once the barrier collapsed, the homes were swamped and 3,000 acres of farmland in the small community about 45 miles northwest of St. Louis were submerged.

Muskrat burrows were blamed for the failure of the levee, allowing floodwater to penetrate deep into it and producing the breach early Friday.

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