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VIDALIA — A massive sinkhole at the corner of Concordia Avenue and Elm Street will have to wait for repairs until the Mississippi River flooding begins to subside, said Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft.

A sinkhole began to form about a week ago, but has gotten worse recently, said Darla Wilkinson, a Vidalia real estate appraiser who lives near the area.

“When I left to go to the gym today, I noticed it had gotten much worse,” Wilkinson said. She took a photo of the area and posted it on Facebook.

Craft said attempting to make repairs to the sinkhole now could put the lives of workers in danger and potentially worsen the hole.

“We have to wait for the river to go down. We were going to dig it up today, but due to the water levels and the water table, that would make for a dangerous situation for our workers,” he said.

The roads near the sinkhole, including Concordia Extension, have been blocked off, and only those who live in the area will be allowed in and out, Craft said.

“It is too dangerous for buses and heavy trucks to travel in the area. We encourage everyone except those who live there to stay away. We do not need people going down there and looking at it. The traffic is going to be bad enough there without adding people who are coming to take a look,” he said.

Craft said city officials were meeting at 4 p.m. Monday on the Vidalia Riverfront with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We want to talk to them about the snowpack up north and how that may affect us, as well as the rainfall that is predicted in the plains and the Ohio Valley during the next 48 hours. We are keeping a very close eye on things, and we are close to the Amen moment when we are going to have to decide to invest money in the riverfront, which we will do. But we want to make the best decisions possible. We don’t want to spend that money unnecessarily,” he said.

The Mississippi River at Natchez is expected to crest on Tuesday at 55.8 feet. Flood stage is 48 feet. However, the crest has been a moving target and is dependent on rain and snowpack melting in the upper Mississippi area.