So, when can we go home; or, for some of us, at least stand at our address and see how far our homes floated from their foundations?

It’s a question Grand Forks Police and city engineers want to answer now, so people don’t get impatient once the Red River crests and the water starts going down.

‘‘They’ll read about the water going down, they’ll see it on TV or hear it somewhere, and they’ll think it will be OK to go back, but it won’t,’’ Lt. Byron Sieber said. ‘‘It’s going to be awhile.’’

‘‘We can’t start seriously thinking about a recovery effort until the water comes down to a 50-foot crest range,’’ said Al Grasser, assistant city engineer. ‘‘That will be at least a week, probably more than that.’’

The water level hovered at 54.11 feet Tuesday afternoon – 26 feet over flood stage – and was expected to waffle between 53 and 54 feet before cresting later in the day.

‘‘Fargo has crested,’’ Sieber said. ‘‘If we haven’t crested yet, it’s going to happen soon, I think. It’s basically already there.’’

Only when the water recedes to 50 will officials begin pumping the water out. The process is a slow one, and people won’t be able to return home even then, he said.

Much of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks remains under a mandatory evacuation order, and people won’t be allowed even a peek anytime soon.

Police Sgt. Leon Chromy said returning homeowners would complicate their efforts to protect possessions from looters because officers do not have enough time to screen every person going to and from the city.

Security will be tightened at checkpoints in anticipation of an influx of homeowners.

Fifteen checkpoints have been in place since Thursday, including the intersections at 17th and Columbia, 26th and DeMers, 32nd and South Washington, 42nd and DeMers, 42nd and Gateway and 42nd and University, said Larry Anderson, a sergeant-major with the National Guard.

When it is safe to return, people will come back the same way they left: a few neighborhoods at a time to avoid the chaos that comes with flooding an area with thousands of people at once, Sieber said.

According to Chromy, if the need to return home is special or an emergency, a person may call the Police Department or the Emergency Operations Center.

Herald volunteer Jay Johnson contributed to this story.