NATCHEZ — Good news came in small increments over the weekend, when the National Weather Service dropped the predicted Mississippi River crest by half a foot each day.

The new predicted crest is 63 feet on May 21. At one point the river was expected to climb as high as 65 feet on the Natchez gauge.

The river stood at 60.9 feet Sunday night.

The news of a lowered crest was welcome as the side effects of so much water continued to cause havoc in the area.

Water levels on Silver Street began causing noticeable erosion Sunday, prompting Natchez City Engineer David Gardner to assemble a crew to sandbag the area.

Water also encroached on J.M. Jones Lumber Company Saturday, requiring 2,000 sandbags, but Gardner said the city was able to deliver the sandbags and prevent water from reaching the facility.

“The river is here now,” Gardner said. “We’re hoping that all of our efforts are going to work; and I feel good about it.”

Officers at the U.S. Coast Guard station on River Terminal Road are fighting around clock to keep water from getting into the building.

The tops of the chain link fence peeked just above the water and basketball hoops stood like awkward buoys on the parameter of the station. The

building itself was walled with sandbags.

U.S. Coast Guard Master Chief Randy Merrick, the officer in charge, said his crew got the barricade up and pumps running to keep seepage out.

“Water is coming in through drain holes and conduit,” Merrick said. “But we’ve kept the water to a minimum.”

Merrick said the water inside the sandbag barricade is no more than an inch deep at any time.

“We brought in some portable generators, and we are pumping water out with shop vacs and using squeegees. We’re keeping ahead of it. If you go behind the scenes, it’s a myriad of pumps and hoses — what we call damage control.”

Merrick said his crew is working 12 hours on and 12 hours off at the station. The barracks inside the station have no working water, gas or sewer, so officers were moved to the Coast Guard boat.

Officers were wading from the station to the road Sunday. Merrick said he thinks the water will soon be too deep to walk across. Eventually boats will be used to access the station.

“The uniform of the day is waders,” Merrick said. “I’ve never seen anything like this with the exception of New Orleans after Katrina.”

Merrick said he is eternally grateful to local authorities, which provided more than 1,000 sandbags to barricade the station.

“They have been a lifesaver,” Merrick said.

He added that Coast Guard officers have a new neighbor at the station.

“Some guys have seen an alligator more than 10-feet long,” he said.

Merrick said he isn’t too worried about the Coast Guard station, even with the water level predicted to rise.

“We know the water will be this high and higher for two weeks,” Merrick said. “So until it recedes, we’ll keep fighting it. I have an outstanding crew.”

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said he has received fewer calls inquiring about rumors because people are better informed.

The mayor said the Vidalia Riverfront doesn’t appear to be in any worse shape than Saturday, when the lowest point on the riverfront was measured at eight feet under water.

“It might not be as bad on the riverfront,” Copeland said. “We dodged a major hurdle. I was so worried at first, but I think it will be OK.”

Copeland said water is coming into the riverfront amphitheatre, but the levees are still holding fine.

“I’m extremely confident that everything will work to perfection. In a few weeks we’ll watch that water going back out, and then the fun starts with massive cleanup.”

Copeland said there is a small amount of seepage under the Hesco basket levee around Promise Hospital, but the pumping systems are flushing the water right back out.”

Copeland said he is having T-shirts designed that say, “We fought the flood of 2011 and won.”

“Of course we have to wait first,” Copeland said. “But I think we will be fine.”

Fifth District Levee Board Member Barry Maxwell said he foresees no problems with the levees.

“The levees are doing exactly what they have been designed to do,” Maxwell said. “I’m also proud they dropped the crest. I guess they are discovering there is not as much water as originally forecast.”

Maxwell said some new sand boils have popped up in same locations as existing sand boils at Lake St. John, Davis Landing in Newellton, La., and some on in Henderson, La.

“It’s nothing earth shattering,” Maxwell said. “We usually know where they will pop up and those areas are walked every day by personnel and the Corps looking for them. If the sand boil starts moving material, we put a sandbag levee around it. The existing sand boils have been addressed and taken care of.”

Maxwell said he understands the mystery of the flood, but urged people to stay off the levees to avoid any damage to them that might cause problems.

The river is predicted to be at 61.2 feet today.