As it inches nearer and nearer to flood stage at Vicksburg, the Mississippi River forecast on Tuesday was once again pushed back a day and slightly raised by the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center.

The river was running at 42.4 feet this morning, a rise of 0.3 foot over the past 24 hours. It is now forecast to crest Friday at 42.7 feet, just shy of the 43 foot flood stage. Last week the Slidell, La.-based forecast center was calling for a crest around 42 feet over the past weekend, and on Sunday it was pushed up to 42.5 feet with a Thursday crest.

While some low-lying roads and fields in the city and county have begun to take on water, no widespread residential flooding is expected if the crest holds. It’s a different story 25 river miles north of Vicksburg at Chotard Landing Resort, where owner Jerry Johnson is watching his business dry up for the third straight spring due to flooding.

“I’ve had some back-to-back years, but never three years in a row,” said Johnson, who has owned and operated the popular oxbow lake resort for 20 years. “It’s over the road here a little better than a foot, which has shut us right down.”