The Mississippi River, falling faster than expected, will allow more than 1,100 employees and contractors laid off from LeTourneau Technologies since April 8 to be called back to work beginning next week and the Steele Bayou Control Structure to be opened by the weekend.

In a third development, debris was being washed from Mississippi 465 today in anticipation of the highway linking U.S. 61 to the Eagle Lake community being reopened.

Ronnie Neihaus, LeTourneau marine service manager, said cleanup crews continue to ready the plant for workers who will return for 10-hour shifts beginning at 6 a.m. Monday.

Warren County has allowed supply trucks to use the still-mangled LeTourneau Road on Friday to resupply the offshore oil rig fabrication site with supplies necessary for day-to-day operations, Neihaus said, and that will allow the company to call back employees.

“With the supplies on hand, now we just need to clean up and get ready for the employees to come back,” he said.

Of 1,452 employees and contractors, roughly 1,100 were laid off when floodwaters made LeTourneau Road impassable one month ago. The remaining employees had been reaching the plant by boat, or working in the company’s business office on Glass Road.

On Monday, supervisors declared an emergency to speed up repairs to LeTourneau Road, heavily damaged by flood waters. That work will be in process as the plant gins back to full operations.

Board members were expected to award a work order for the job today, based on quotes gathered by ABMB Engineering Inc.

County Engineer John McKee said a first step would be to lay a temporary limestone surface to provide a driving surface for lightweight traffic.

Costs associated with raising and rebuilding the road a second time in just more than a decade have been mentioned between $500,000 and $1 million. Financing the reconstruction may be eased by a federal disaster declaration for flood-affected counties so infrastructure repair costs can be reimbursed with federal dollars.

Today the Mississippi River stage at Vicksburg was 45.1 feet, a drop of 0.7 foot from Monday. Flood stage of 43 at the city was surpassed on March 29, with the river cresting at 50.9 feet on April 19. The Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center predicts the river at Vicksburg will fall below flood stage Saturday. The river dipped below flood stage in Greenville today.

Mississippi RiverTODAY’S STAGE: 45.1 feetFELL: 0.7 footFLOOD STAGE: 43 feetSTEELE BAYOU:Landside: 92.0Riverside: 93.6Flood PhotosSlideshowGalleryMeanwhile, the water readings on the landside and riverside of the Steele Bayou Control Structure continue to even out, and the Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the structure’s gates should be open no later than Friday, allowing water ponding inside the levee to start draining out.

Today the Steele Bayou riverside stage was 93.6 feet, a fall of 0.8 foot from Monday and the landside stage was 92 feet, a rise of 0.1 foot. The gates of the control structure – the drainage point for the 4,093 square miles of the Yazoo backwater area – have been closed since March 13 to hold floodwater out of the river.

“There’s a slight chance we might be able to open the gates Thursday evening, but right now it’s looking like some time Friday is more likely,” said Robert Simrall, Corps chief of water control. “The backwater area will probably go to about (water stage) 92.5 feet by then.”

An estimated 337,000 acres of land, including 117,000 acres of cleared land for farming, are submerged in the backwater area. At a water stage of 92.5 feet, it would be the fourth-worst flood in the backwater area since 1979, when the water stage crested at 96.5 feet.

Both city and county officials were still waiting for word on whether or not President Bush will declare four counties in Mississippi, including Warren, federal disaster areas. Gov. Haley Barbour requested a federal declaration on April 24, and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Mike Womack has said he expects a reply by the end of the week.

“We can still do some things without the declaration, but of course, we will be able to do a whole lot more with a declaration,” said Gertrude Young, chairman of a committee organized to aid those affected by flooding and try to come up with housing solutions for those displaced.

City officials have taken the first step toward obtaining federal funds to buy homes affected by this year’s flood. On Monday, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen authorized the preparation and submittal of an application to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. They also committed to a 25 percent local funding match of $100,000 for the first phase of the buyouts.

Mayor Laurence Leyens has said he hopes to have 25 families moved from their homes within six months. A majority of those homes he has identified as being repeatedly affected by flooding are in the Ford Subdivision.

Meetings will take place at the Kings Empowerment Center on Thursday and Friday, said Young, to gauge the public sentiment toward the buyout option in the community. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., representatives of the committee will be at the center to hear comments and answer questions.

Warren County’s participation in the federal buyout program will hinge on public interest, officials said.

Supervisors put off a formal vote on the matter Monday. EMA Director Gwen Coleman said a resolution had not been needed in years past and residents can stop by agency offices in the basement of the courthouse to start the process.

Instead of committing a 25 percent match to FEMA on money paid to property owners who leave flooded homes, board members have chosen a wait-and-see approach.

“We will probably be able to (participate) if we have qualified applicants,” Board President Richard George said. “It’s a personal decision they have to make.”

In recent discussions, county officials consistently have mentioned obtaining clear titles to properties as a chief challenge in the program. To start a flood buyout, property owners must present a copy of a recorded warranty deed showing the title is vested in them.

The federal disaster mitigation program pays market value for a house the day before a flood, plus a relocation stipend.