MISSOULA – A combination of snowpack runoff and a rainy weekend has led to a number of flooding concerns for people throughout the area.
A Flood Warning remains in effect for the Clark Fork River above Missoula until further notice. The river is forecast to reach 11 feet and remain near 11 feet through Thursday afternoon — one a foot above flood stage.
Residents along Stone Drive are still making an effort to sandbag their homes to protect from the flood waters. Officials tell us that their focus in the area is to protect life and anyone who needs to be removed from their home is their priority. They also said that they are attempting to protect public roads in the area.
The Missoula County Office of Emergency Management has sand bags still available off of Training Drive at the Missoula County Public Works facility. The biggest piece of advice that they could offer though was to watch for changing conditions and stay updated.
"We continue to tell people to look for changing condition to look at our website for flood information as well as sandbagging techniques. Also to register for emergency alerts and anticipate the water is going to rise at this point. While it is very early for flood impacts in Missoula county this is only the beginning of what we expect to be as very prolonged flood season," said Missoula County Office of Emergency Management Director Adriane Beck.
While Beck said that no power lines had been affected, she does recommend that anyone who has propane tanks surrounded by flood waters to shut them off.
The water will continue to rise and flood streets in the Orchard Homes area, specifically on Kehrwald Drive, Channel Drive, Tower Street, Nancy Lou Drive, Keck Street and Stone Street.
Click here for more information on flooding preparedness from the Missoula County website.
The National Weather Service advises not to enter or cross flowing water or water of unknown depth. Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
