Miss-Lou officials will be eyeing the river &045; and the weather &045; for the next few weeks, hoping the river does not rise higher than its expected crest of 51 feet on Jan. 26.

&uot;Predicting the river is not an exact science,&uot; Natchez city engineer David Gardner said. &uot;More times than not it seems to get a bit higher (than predicted).&uot;

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the river at Natchez was at 37.2, down slightly from the day before and below the 48-foot flood stage.

But activity higher up river tells forecasters what they can expect in coming weeks, and Cairo, Ill.’s river level was at 37.9 &045; up 4 feet from just a day before.

If the river rises much higher than 51 feet at Natchez, city officials have to consider closing Silver Street for safety reasons &045; which would shut down Isle of Capri casino.

Flooding in low-lying areas occurs, too. At a river level of 50 feet, according to the National Weather Service, the town of Rodney can flood.

According to Robert Simrall, chief of water control for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Vicksburg, Carthage Point Road is impassable at 48 feet, and the river stage predicted for later this month would affect about 100 homes.

In Vidalia, Mayor Hyram Copeland said the town has plans in place in case of flooding, but he was not worried about the predicted river stage.

&uot;Hopefully it won’t get any higher,&uot; he said.

Isle of Capri General Manager Jose Oakley said Thursday the casino will be watching the water level, too.

&uot;It will be close,&uot; he said.

It is the city’s call as to whether to close Silver Street, Oakley said.

In March 1997, when Lady Luck owned the casino, city officials closed the street for safety reasons when the river stage was high &045; causing some controversy among employees who were out of work until it could be reopened.

The casino now a ramp patrons use to access the riverboat.

In June 2002, the river came close to threatening Silver Street, but Isle of Capri and Natchez officials worked together to sandbag the area. The river stage hit 51.3 at that time.

&uot;We’ll keep our fingers crossed,&uot; Gardner said. &uot;Hopefully the only thing we’ll have to contend with is traffic. We’re business friendly, and we don’t want the casino to have to close.&uot;

One thing that concerns Gardner is the time of year &045; December is usually the lowest point for the river, which steadily rises through the spring thanks to the thaw upriver.

&uot;It’s very unusual for it to be this high this time of year,&uot; he said. &uot;This sets the stage for (possible flooding) this spring.&uot;

Simrall agreed the timing is unusual, but he said it is impossible to predict what might happen later in the year.