Islands in the stream: The extraordinary homemade dams holding back the Mississippi as desperate residents try to save their homes

• Residents go to extreme measures to save their homes
• Flooding claims its first death

We've all undertaken home improvements but these residents in flood-stricken Mississippi have had to embark on major construction projects just to protect their houses and livelihoods.

These homes in Vicksburg are all situated along the Yazoo River, a tributary of the overflowing Mississippi River, and their owners have surrounded themselves with tons of earth and sand.

With questions over whether the main levees that protect the area from floods would hold, these farmers took no chances and have so far saved their homes and crops from destruction.

See the video below...