The rising Mississippi River topped Long Lake Road north of Vicksburg Saturday afternoon, forcing the road to be blocked to traffic and effectively closing the Kings Point Ferry.

Forecast to rise through next week and crest a foot above flood stage of 43 feet on May 19, the flooding should not cause major damage in the Vicksburg area, including to homes, if the current crest forecast holds, officials said.

“All of the streets in the Long Lake subdivision have been under water since earlier in the week, and Long Lake Road has been the last to go,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “We’re just hoping the crest is going to hold as forecast, and if it does, I think we will be fine.”

The river at Vicksburg measured 39.4 feet on Saturday afternoon, a rise of 0.4 feet in a 12-hour period. It is forecast to rise to 40.9 feet by the end of today, top flood stage on Wednesday and crest at 44 feet on the morning of Tuesday, May 19.

Pace said only about a half dozen stilted homes remain in the Long Lake Road area — a once-bustling community slowly abandoned over the past four decades due to repetitive flooding — and they are not in danger of taking on water.

“Access to the homes is limited, but the homes themselves should be fine,” he said.

Warren County Board of Supervisors President Richard George said Saturday afternoon the Kings Point Ferry would likely close by today and would “definitely” be out of service by early next week. Kings Point island is primarily used for hunting and tree farming, as it has been cut off from the county’s mainland since the completion of the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903.

Flood stage at Vicksburg was last topped on March 29, 2008, with the river eventually cresting at 50.9 feet on April 21 and remaining above flood stage until May 10. It was the highest measured river stage recorded at the city in 35 years, dating to 1973 when the river topped out at 51.6 feet.

In north Vicksburg west of North Washington Street, in Ford and Waltersville subdivisions, during last year’s spring flooding, residents started moving out when the river level reached 45 feet. Homes began taking on water at 46 feet. Vicksburg emergency management officials estimated that 145 people were displaced from 101 homes in the area last spring.

South of Vicksburg, LeTourneau Road went under water at about 48 feet last year and was closed for about a month, causing the temporary layoff of about 1,100 employees of the offshore oil rig manufacturer. Mississippi 465 — which was also closed for about a month last spring — will not be affected at the current crest forecast, said Pace. The state highway leading to the Eagle Lake area from U.S. 61 North was topped by floodwaters on April 4 last year, when the river stage reached 46.5 feet.

Jerry Johnson, owner of Chotard Landing Resort — located about 25 river miles north of Vicksburg — said the banks of Chotard Lake have been breached by the river. He predicted the floodwaters will likely top the road leading to his lakeside business sometime today, and the longtime river-watcher expects the forecast crest to rise another two to three feet in the coming week.

“It’s got to come up — there’s been so much rain falling over the middle part of the county in the past few days,” he said. “I look for it to go to 46 or 47 (feet), which will bring water back up into my store again.”

Despite elevating all of his furniture and equipment inside his building, Johnson lost nearly everything inside his general store and bar last year. He spent about $100,000 replacing everything from chairs and televisions to cases of beer and refrigeration units.

In addition to rental cabins at his resort, Johnson owns 162 acres around Chotard Lake and leases the land to owners of the roughly 60 fish camps in the area, creating a small community on the oxbow lake. About six of the camps are occupied by year-round residents, while other camp owners are primarily weekend residents. The camps are all raised about 7 to 10 feet, and most took on floodwaters from less than an inch to as high as 3 feet last year.

Johnson said nearby Ziegler Road — which, like his business, is not protected by levees — went under water earlier this week. About a dozen homes on the road are all on stilts and they did not take on water last year.

Cairo, Ill. — the benchmark for river activity south of the city where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers converge — is forecast to begin falling today. It crested on Saturday about 8.5 feet above flood level of 40 feet. The river is forecast to crest at Greenville on May 18 at 2 feet above flood stage, and at 3 feet above flood stage in Natchez on May 20.