After shutting down for more than a month, the Port of Vicksburg is back in business.

The slow withdrawal of the Mississippi River has cleared the way for the port and other industries along the river to slowly resume operations.

On Saturday, the Mississippi at Vicksburg was at 41.3 feet, 1.7 feet below the 43-foot flood stage and 15.8 feet below the crest on May 19 at 57.1 feet.

Lt. Teresa Hatfield, supervisor at the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety office at Vicksburg, said the dropping water has so far caused no problems for river traffic, including barges.

“The water is still high and we have not seen any shoaling or silting,” Hatfield said. “That may change as the river (continues to) go down, but right now things are running smoothly.”

At the port, Port Commission executive director Wayne Mansfield said the T-dock is operational and ABMB Engineers, the port’s engineers, are preparing a damage report for port commissioners.

“There’s no more water on the property,” said Keith Cochran, local supervisor for Kinder Morgan Terminals, contract manager of the port’s loading area.

Mansfield said port officials do not yet know if floodwaters damaged the port’s overhead crane, because water in the port is still too high for engineers to get a look at the crane’s deck.

He expects the engineers to give a preliminary damage report when the Port Commission meets Monday.

Another port tenant has returned to business as usual.

“We got rail service back Tuesday and we’ve been operating as we were before the flood,” Ergon Refinery manager Ken Dillard said.

He said the lack of rail service during high water had the biggest impact on the refinery’s operation.

“We did have some concerns about getting our crews to work, and there were times when barge traffic was restricted,” he said. “But other than not having rail service, things were pretty well normal.”

Next door to the port, Anderson-Tully Co. was also running at full capacity.

Executive vice president Richard Wilkerson said the company reduced its operations during the flood, cutting its two shifts to five hours each instead of eight to nine each. He said the shorter work days allowed workers to get home before dark.

He said the company’s levees were raised by an average of 4 feet, and temporary levees were extended north and south of the plant. He said the temporary levees have been removed.

International Paper officials expect the company’s Vicksburg Mill to resume operations by the end of the month, company spokeswoman Amy Sawyer said Friday. Power was expected to be restored to the mill by end of last week.

To the south, LeTourneau Technologies was believed to still be closed.

Businesses along U.S. 61 South continued operating during the flood, thanks in part to a levee built by LaSalle-Bristol, Mid-South Lumber and Supply, Electro Mechanical Solutions Inc. and Energy Services International on an abandoned railroad bed behind Green Meadow Subdivision that ran south past Cooper Lighting. None of the companies reported getting floodwater.

Mary Jo Blackwell with Mid-South Lumber said the business never shut down.

She said the levee will stay, adding, “I’m not going through this again.”