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Flooding Roundup: Rain, Runoff Pummel Rockies

By Kate Schwab, 6-08-11

Jared Pomeroy and Jared Schmidt shovel sand for a makeshift levy on Cottonwood Creek in Deer Lodge, Montana. Photo by Kate Schwab.

Heavy rains pelting western Montana this week sent area officials scrambling and Cottonwood Creek over its banks in the rural town of Deer Lodge on Tuesday, where sections of newly constructed retaining walls intended to prevent flooding failed their first test and collapsed into the creek.

It was the town’s first flood since its historic 500-year-level flood in 1981, residents said. Despite dozens of volunteers and local contractors contributing trucks and equipment to help the city crew, at one point the community ran out of sandbags and had to send for more from neighboring Anaconda. More rain is expected through the week.

Spring floods have been an ongoing problem throughout the state and the Rockies, thanks to a drenching combination of rapid snowmelt and excessive rainfall. In Montana, the counties of Clearwater, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Granite, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli and Sanders are all under flood warning. Silver-Bow and Idaho’s Lemhi County are also on flood watch, the National Weather Service reports. In particular, the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers in Missoula and surrounding counties will be problematic, with the Clark Fork at Missoula already flooding and predicted to be two feet higher by Thursday, according to the Missoulian.

In eastern Idaho, flood warnings continue for the Portneuf, Teton and Snake rivers, including Bannock, Fremont, Madison, Bingham and Bonneville counties. At Stites on the South Fork Clearwater River in Idaho County, the water is a foot above flood stage and expected to drop by Thursday. At Orofino in Clearwater County, the river was less than a foot below flood stage with minor flooding was expected by Wednesday. On the western side, Benewah and Bonner counties are also under flood warning along with several counties in eastern Washington.

Wyoming’s Star Valley in Lincoln County is still under flood warning and local streams are running high, but the Salt River is thought to have crested and cooler temperatures this week are predicted to slow snowmelt. Flood warnings continue for Carbon and Laramie counties. Johnson County is on a flash flood watch that will remain effective till June 14.

One lane has been ordered closed in each direction on Interstate 70 because of flood danger and debris on the Colorado River near the Colorado-Utah border. Mesa and Grand counties will be affected. Colorado’s Grand, Gunnison, Rio Blanco, Eagle, Pitkin, Weld and Larimer counties are all under flood advisories. Jackson, Garfield and Routt counties are under flood warnings. Routt County flooding at the juncture of the Yampa and Elk rivers is disrupting state and local highway traffic.

Warnings remain in effect till Thursday for Sanpete, Juab, Sevier and Piute counties in Utah, where the Sevier River is flooding, and for the Weber River system in Morgan, Summit, Davis and Weber counties.

All but 15 Montana counties had officially declared flood emergencies as of June 4. Idaho’s governor has already declared the flooding to be a statewide disaster. A full list of affected areas is not yet available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which tracks disasters on a national level. Maps depicting local flood risk and information on insurance, prevention and recovery can be obtained through the National Flood Insurance Program.

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