NATCHEZ — The Mighty Mississippi showed up, but it’s done little more.

Today starts the third day at the river’s high water crest of 56.69 feet, 8.69 feet above flood stage and placing it above 56.6 mark set during the high water event known as the Great Flood of 1927.

That makes it the fifth-highest ever river level, but falling just shy of the 57 foot mark that the National Weather Service considers a “major flood.”

At this level, the river covered the lowest portion of Silver Street and the gravel of Cooper Street, and laps against the convention center on the Vidalia Riverfront. Its swollen waters pushed up the bluff against but not overwhelming the Magnolia Bluffs Casino and the Jones Lumber Company levee — but that’s it.

The river is expected to start a slow creep downward today, from 56.5 at 6 a.m. to 56.4 Tuesday, 56.1 Wednesday and 55.7 Thursday.

The Lower Mississippi River Forecast Flood Center’s 28-day day forecast — which operates on the assumption that things will remain static beyond the immediate 5-day forecast period — says the river will fall below flood stage once again Feb. 7.

Concordia Parish Homeland Security Director Payne Scott said the state of emergency that was declared in late December would remain in effect while officials assess the situation.

“When the urgency is over with, we will start backing down,” Scott said. “We will continue to watch sand boils and seepage, and we will keep on carrying on as we have been carrying on, continuing to monitor the levees, though the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers has assured me there is no issue with our levee.”

For now, area residents can watch the flood in reverse. D.A. Biglane Street was closed and Silver Street was re-routed to two-way traffic at approximately 53 feet, two feet above what the National Weather Service considers “moderate flood.”

The former Belwood Country Club near the Natchez-Adams County Port takes on water at 47 feet. Carthage Point Road, which is near the Belwood property, is likewise impacted at that point.

At 45 feet, some buildings in the Wilkinson County community of Fort Adams are impacted by the floodwaters. The Concordia Parish areas of Deer Park and Minorca are likewise affected by the high water prior to flood stage.

At 44 feet, the areas around Lake Mary are inundated, while Thornburg Lake Road in Anna’s Bottom in Northern Adams County — where some agricultural interests are located — starts to take on water at 43 feet.