VIDALIA — The scattered showers across the Miss-Lou Saturday are not expected to have much of an effect on the level of the rising Mississippi River.

The National Weather Service’s river forecasting service adjusted the expected river levels for the next three days by only one-tenth of a foot Saturday.

In the latest forecast available, the river is expected to stand at 49.5 feet at 7 a.m. today, exactly 1.5 feet above flood stage. In a forecast released Thursday, the weather service said it had expected the river to rise to 49.4 feet today.

The river is expected to rise by approximately a foot over the next two days, to 49.9 feet Monday morning and 50.3 feet Tuesday.

The river is expected to crest at 53 feet on the morning of April 6.

During the past week, the river did not rise as quickly as expected because drought the region experienced last year left many of the oxbow lakes between the levees with lower-than-usual water levels.

The water from the swollen river began filling in those lakes, which slowed the progress of the wave of water down the river.

The rising water has not directly affected most residents of the Miss-Lou, though the Old River areas of Minorca and Deer Park, which are both low-lying and on the river side of the levees, have already flooded.

Carthage Point Road south of Natchez has been submerged by the river, and in Wilkinson County the roads to Jackson Point and Lake Mary are under water, and the small community of Fort Adams has been been approached by the rising waters.

Silver Street at Natchez-Under-the-Hill has been sandbagged to keep water out of the street.

The historic normal stage for the river for this time of year is approximately 37 feet.