U.S. 61 will close today on both sides of the Yazoo River bridge as water approaches the road. Separately, Warren County ordered the evacuation of about 400 residents on the north and south ends of the highway in the county as the water was predicted to flood the road by the weekend.

Water this morning was quickly climbing toward 61 near its intersection with Mississippi 465 and Mississippi 3, said Kevin Magee, Central District Engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

“We expect it to be under by tonight,” Magee said.

U.S. 61 South at the Big Black River was expected to close by Saturday, which will cut off north-south access to and from Vicksburg on U.S. 61. Parts of Mississippi 3 in Redwood were expected to close Sunday. Traffic alerts were planned on Interstate 20 out of Jackson and in northeast Louisiana to warn motorists.

The U.S. 61 closures at 465 and 3 had been expected for the weekend, but they were moved up as the river encroached more quickly than had been predicted.

Warren County officials continued visits to residents around Redwood and Yokena urging them to leave their homes, Emergency Management Agency Operations Officer Sam Barnes said this morning after supervisors OK’d a general evacuation order “for certain areas to be adversely affected by the closing of state highways and county roads.”

The Mississippi River at Vicksburg this morning was 54.6 feet, up nearly a foot in 24 hours. The river is forecast to crest in the city on May 19, a week from today, at 57.5 feet, 1.3 feet past the historic 1927 flood.

Forecasts for the river’s crest at Greenville were raised Wednesday by 6 inches to 65 feet by Monday. Crests downriver should remain stable for now, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. About 4 miles of high-density polyvinyl mat covers the Yazoo Backwater Levee north of Mississippi 465 to prevent the north face of the levee from scour. The Corps predicts water will overtop the backwater levee as stages remain above 50 feet for nearly a month after the crest.

Flooding has forced the closing of DiamondJacks and Rainbow casinos, and Ameristar and Riverwalk remained open, partially encircled by temporary levees and lines of sand bins. The city’s fifth casino, formerly Horizon and becoming Grand Station, has been closed to the public because of the sale since March.

Starting Friday, truck traffic to and from the Port of Vicksburg will be rerouted onto Sherman Avenue.

Eagle Lake was 88.9 feet this morning. A 2-acre berm around sand boils found at the Buck Chute levee west of the lake was built in recent weeks. The Muddy Bayou Control Structure is filling the lake to 90 feet to ease pressure on the levee from the east. The Corps plans to fill and cap the 2 acres where the dirt was taken with 20,000 cubic yards of sand and clay.

Levels at the Steele Bayou Control Structure were 89.9 feet on the land side and 103.8 feet on the river side, meaning 13.9 feet of water was being held in the backwater area behind the structure, said Wayland Hill, chief civil engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Water Control Division.