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VIDALIA, La. — With the Mississippi River flood now receding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cautions residents to stay off levee roads, or else emergency responders may have to come to their rescue.

Vidalia officials also advise those who do not live in the neighborhood to avoid driving on Concordia Avenue to Murray Drive because of active sinkholes, as vibrations from irregular traffic could make them worse.

A large and growing sinkhole on Concordia Avenue at Elm Street in Vidalia might be the worst, but it is not the only damage the town sees from the Mississippi River flooding event.

As of Friday, the river was just above 55 feet and projected to recede below the flood stage of 48 feet around Friday, May 9.

In a meeting with Lt. Col. Jeremiah Gipson and other representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft brought their flood concerns to the table.

For Vidalia, the major concern is seepage water causing damage to its subsurface infrastructure and also contributing to the active sinkholes along Concordia Avenue.

“We’re flooding from with-under,” Craft said. “The seepage water comes up and causes all kinds of havoc to our infrastructure. Power lines, gas lines, water lines, sewage lines and drainage. But I’m hoping that we can keep an eye on it and some things we can go through FEMA for to make some of these corrections.”

The worst sinkhole at Elm Street is at least 7 feet deep and growing and could cost the town millions of dollars to fix, Craft said. There is another at a residence further down the street where Concordia Avenue curves into a field, he said.

An old culvert there has been deteriorating and could be a major fix, but nothing can be done in either area until the water table goes down to normal levels, Craft said.

“It’s hard to say but I think it’s going to take some major work in that area keep this from happening again and very expensive,” he said. “It’s a big culvert down there, big enough for some to walk through, which drains all along Concordia Avenue all the way down to the Vidalia Canal. We may have to dig that whole culvert out.”

Craft said another issue is the concrete canal at the Apple Street Bridge that is breaking apart because of underwater springs.

“We fixed it just a few years ago and spent roughly $60,000 to $70,000 on it and now it’s all broke up again because there is water shooting up out of the ground there. Even when the river is low, there is still water coming up out of the ground there.”

Craft said he is looking for a long-term solution to the issue of seepage water, whether it’s by digging ground wells or adding pumping points to alleviate the water pressure below.

For now, officials are waiting for the flood to recede to normal levels.

“In 10 to 14 days, we should be back within normal conditions,” Gipson said. “I’m a day late. I usually try to get here right at the peak and I’m happy to see the water receding and heading down.”

Gibson said the high-water event will cause damage to the levee system.

“Those are called levee slides. We know from previous years that there are slides out there and this event will worsen them. When this high water starts receding, we have a plan to get out there and do a reassessment,” with repairs likely happening in the fall.

At this stage, Gipson advised residents not to drive along the levee.

“This flooding is in emergency conditions. The river is dangerous and our emergency responders need access to those one-way up and down levees,” he said. “What we don’t need is folks getting out there and driving off one side — whether it’s the dry side or the wet side — of the levee and causing emergency personnel to have to get out there and help people. … Protect our levees. They are there to protect you.”