(HOLT COUNTY, Mo.)— The road to recovery will not be a short one for many residents in Holt County affected by March's historic flood.

"This is going to hurt a lot of people for several years," Holt County resident Chris Haer said. 

As water levels go down, sand-laden fields and roads are left behind. 

"At this point, we are just doing basic infrastructure to get us access to our places and our equipment," Haer said. 

Haer lives about three miles north of Craig and he, like a lot of farmers and homeowners in the area, are picking up the pieces left behind by the flood. 

"Until we have federal approval, most of these repairs can't be done and we're still at risk because of that," Haer said. 

As the wait for the government assistance continues, concerns grow over levees that were breached or broken because if they aren't fixed, then water will flow freely back in if there is another flood. 

Haer expects the government assistance to come—it's just a matter of when it will. 

"We really can't do much enough emergency work because until we have that approval, it's all out of pocket for us," Haer said. 

After the 2011 flood, several people in and around Big Lake and Craig rebuilt their homes to withstand a historic flood, but here they are nearly a decade later facing a bigger flood. 

"This one is worst because for one thing, it's not over and until we get the levees back in place, we're still at risk," Haer said. 

The recovery time won't be months for Haer and others in Holt County, it will be years. 

"For some people, it will be unrecoverable," Haer said. "This a big percentage of Holt County's income, just from this lower bottom."