The Mississippi River’s fall in Vicksburg since Thursday’s crest is coming in baby steps, not leaps or bounds, and officials, residents and businesses are being forced to react at the same pace.

The Mississippi River at Vicksburg was 56.7 feetSaturday night, 0.1 feet lower than Friday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is confident the mainline levees will hold and are preparing for the next flood despite a possible cut in funding for levee maintenance.

“Perhaps a storm of a lesser amount will cause greater harm next year,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division. “So we’ve got a number of engineers in place up and down the river making sure our features are in place and are able to respond next year.”

Funds are allocated for the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project in the proposed budget for the Corps’ total $210 million for 2012 — $100 million less than what was authorized in 2010. The Corps budget expects 6 percent less money than this year and 15 percent less than 2010.

Almost a month remains before floodwaters recede from the hardest-hit of 1,205 dwellings evacuated during the river’s historic bulge. Road conditions and access for law enforcement dictated the way out for 3,202 evacuated in Warren County and will determine when people can return safely, officials said.

“It’s too premature to speculate about that,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. “It’ll be accessible once water’s off the roads and the roads have been inspected.”

Water has closed both ends of U.S. 61 in Warren County and Mississippi 3 at Redwood for more than a week. Mississippi 465 closed May 3. Predicting when they’ll open and what condition they’ll be in once water recedes, is “not an exact science,” said Dick Hall, Central District commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

“We’re assuming the last ones to close will be the first ones to reopen,” Hall said. MDOT has closed parts of nine roads until further notice in Warren, Yazoo and Wilkinson counties. Parts of 47 city and county roads are also off-limits due to high water.

Beyond access, the next step will be living in a home that’s been water-logged for weeks.

Residents inside the city limits must have their homes inspected by the Building and Inspections Department. Homeowners must register with FEMA to find out if dwellings pass inspection. Flood victims will have a chance to register Tuesday and talk about other flood issues during a community meeting at Vicksburg Auditorium, set for 6 p.m.

Garbage pickup in areas where city streets are closed will resume according to water on the ground, Mayor Paul Winfield said. Waste Management, the city’s contract hauler, also picks up garbage in most nonmunicipal areas. The city Water and Gas Administration is expected to turn switches back on once water recedes.

In Warren County, all buildings in need of reconstruction worth more than $500 must obtain a building permit — in line with the current minimum for new construction.

Regardless of provider, Warren County residents must have wiring in flooded homes checked for potential hazards and approved by a qualified electrician to have electricity reconnected.

Entergy Mississippi, which serves 21,000 customers countywide, plans to seek authority from the state Public Service Commission to do so, spokesman Don Arnold said. Through Thursday, the utility had cut power to 391 customers in flooded areas, Arnold said.

Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association, which has customers in Warren, Yazoo, Sharkey and Issaquena counties, reported 801 outages due to flooding, member services coordinator Rebecca Yeates said. The utility provides power to 10,378 customers in the four counties, she said. The utility plans to have a form on the company website that customers can use and have an electrician sign, Yeates said.

Twin County Electric Power Association has roughly 250 meters down due to flooding, general manager John W. Mosley said. Spotty outages were reported in Eagle Lake last week as the Corps of Engineers fought sand boils on parts of the mainline levee system. Customers may mail or fax forms signed by electricians to the office to confirm wiring has been inspected, Mosley said.

Once it’s time to clean up, it’s squarely on residents to find the right mix of cleaners and chemicals to scrub floors and baseboards.

Walls and other hard surfaces may be cleaned with soap and water and disinfected with a cup of bleach to 5 gallons of water, the Mississippi State Department of Health advises.

The department expects an increase in mosquitoes, which are most active at sunrise and sunset. The winged pests will not carry communicable diseases, MSDH advises. Tetanus shots are recommended for anyone who has come in contact with floodwater, especially if it’s been 10 years since the last vaccination.

Authorities discourage approaching alligators and snakes during and after a flood. Wild hogs may be trapped and hunted on private property without firearm restrictions. Recipes to cook the long-toothed swine abound online, though some believe the hogs could carry diseases from being in sometimes-stagnant river water.