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Missoula commissioners sign emergency proclamation for flooding

Posted at 5:44 PM, May 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-03 19:44:47-04

MISSOULA – County commissioners signed an emergency proclamation Thursday morning to help handle the flood conditions in Missoula County.

“The emergency proclamation is the first step the county takes when we recognize that we may be up against a disaster or an event that is going to start to stress our resources and our capabilities and it allows us to seek help from the state organizations above us,” Deputy Director for the Office of Emergency Management Ken Parks said.

State organizations like MT Disaster and Emergency Services can assist providing resources, like sandbags, to residents in need.  

Also the proclamation activates the Emergency Operations Plan which puts the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office in charge of coordinating efforts to help protect the public.

And the public will need all the help they can get with waters expected to rise.

“All the predictions at this point are pointing towards an increase in the flood plain flood level next week, above and beyond what we saw last week,” Parks added.

With higher water levels on the way, the Army Corps of Engineers will be in Missoula next week to help assess what the county can do to prevent more damage to residential properties.

“They are going to do an inspection of the levees and look at the potential for the flooding and give us some recommendation on what we can do to protect roadways and the status of the levy at this point, and just give us a kind of overall look at the situation we’re at and some recommendation,” Parks said.

While the county is anticipating more water, they say residents should too. For the next couple days water should start to receding and officials advise on taking advantage of this time to prepare for what could happen.

But for some residents, even getting to their homes presents an issue.

For those living along Kehrwald Street, the only way to their homes is still through flood waters, and those waters the County anticipates will rise in the next coming weeks.