VIDALIA — Carla Jenkins fought back tears Tuesday afternoon as she boxed up a lifetime of memories planted on the Vidalia riverfront.

Jenkins and her family have owned and operated Vidalia Dock and Storage on the riverfront since her father founded the business in 1956.

The rapidly rising river is now forcing them to seek higher ground and simply get out of the way of the river that has served as the working grounds for decades.

“We’re moving everything,” she said. “We’re moving every piece of equipment that we own. We made the decision over the weekend.”

No stranger to periodic flooding, Jenkins said they have been monitoring the river levels for weeks.

“We built a huge levee around the building,” she said. “When I heard the river would reach 60 feet, we hoped to minimize the seepage.

“When we heard it was going to hit 63, we hoped to minimize the damage. When we heard 65 feet, I’m just hoping it doesn’t wash the building away.”

Vidalia Dock and Storage provides tug services for area river facilities, services grain elevators and operating boats that work up and down the river. The family also operates Two J Ranch from the facility. Two J Ranch sells limestone rock for construction and landscaping.

“We’ve never dealt with the river at this level,” said Jenkins, who serves as manager of Vidalia Dock and Storage. “We’re in absolutely uncharted waters.”

Despite moving their own equipment out of the way, Jenkins said their crews had attempted to build a rock levee on their property just to the north of their building.

It’s an area where the family believes the highest volume of water may impact the Vidalia riverfront.

“I’ve been here 32 years, so I know where the river floods and how much water can come through there,” she said. “We built (the levee) to take the hardest-flowing current away from the riverfront and put it back out into the main river.”

Jenkins said she knows the power of the river’s might, particularly under flooding conditions.

“It comes through there so fast it can knock a grown man off his feet in only three feet of water,” she said.

Vidalia Dock staff has been staying in touch with city of Vidalia crews and offering assistance where possible.

“We’re doing everything we can to help the city save this entire riverfront area,” Jenkins said. “We’re all in this together.”