Mississippi 465 officially closed Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation placed barricades across the main road to the Eagle Lake community, preventing traffic from using the road, which is now underwater.

“The backwater levee is open and the (Mississippi) Levee Board is working to keep it open,” Warren County Emergency Management director John Elfer said. “But we want to urge drivers to drive slowly and be careful. The last thing we need is a wreck on the levee. There’s water on each side of the levee. We’ve already had one wreck; a car went into the water, but no one was injured, thankfully.”

The highway’s closing is the latest change as the Mississippi River continued its rise toward a forecast 50.5-foot crest at Vicksburg on March 17. The river was at 46.04 feet at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Flood stage is 43 feet.

Although high water has cut off Mississippi 465, it has not forced the Tara Wildlife Refuge at Eagle Lake to cancel its Spring Break Youth Camp, which begins March 12 at the refuge.

Mark Bowen, sales and marketing director for the refuge, said the families of campers participating in the program will use the backwater levee to reach Eagle Lake. The youngsters will stay at the refuge during the camp, which ends March 16.

“It will limit the activities that we do, but we’re going to still have it. One of the things they do that’s enjoyable is they’ll get up early in the morning and go listening for turkeys,” Bowen said. “The other thing they do is go deer shed hunting and both of those will be off the calendar because of the deer that’s displaced.”

Bowen said the refuge has 800 acres on the protected side of the levee, and more than 5,000 acres on the other side of the levee.

“All those deer and everybody else’s deer is coming back on the 800 acres, so we won’t go in there and cause any stress on the animals at all.”

He said the campers will visit the Vicksburg National Military Park March 14.

“We’ve got a large enough area that’s open for (other) activities we can do,” Bowen said.

Further north, Chotard Landing owner Jerry Johnson said the situation “is wet; it’s a little bit wet.”

Presently, he said, he has about five inches of water in his grocery store, “But all my condos are safe. I’ve got one cabin that’s gone under, and I’ve got two more cabins that are about to go under unless something changes. Other than that, we’ve got everything else pretty much taken care of.”

He said he expects to see about 5.5 feet in his store by the time the river crests at Vicksburg.

Most of his cabins and his condos, Johnson said, are elevated out of the water.

“After the 2011 flood, I put everything I could up in the air, so we’re pretty well safe right now, but you know, things can change. I’ve been in this dog and pony show before; it stops here, and then it keeps on going, so I’m preparing for the worst. That’s all I can do.”

Back in Vicksburg, representatives for three of the city’s four casinos indicated they will remain open.

“We’re staying open,” said WaterView Casino manager Tony Scudiero. “For the first time since this facility opened, we’re putting up HCSCO barriers, and what that does, that lets us protect the area we need to protect from the river rising, which means we will not even have to raise our barge, which means no interruption at all to our business.”

Jennifer Curro, marketing director for Lady Luck Casino, said the casino will remain open.

“We feel pretty confident right now,” she said. “Our facilities director has been in contact with his people and they feel it’s not going to get above 50 (feet) as of right now, and we really don’t have any concerns until it gets about 53. We don’t have any plans to close at this time.”

Garad Hardy, general manager for Ameristar said the present water levels will not impact the casino’s business. “We will be staying open,” he said.

Attempts to reach a Riverwalk representative were unsuccessful.