MISSOULA – Missoula emergency officials say while we haven’t experienced any significant flooding yet, residents in the Orchards Homes area still need to be prepared, just in case the situation does get worse.
The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of Emergency Management briefed the public Wednesday during an information meeting at Hawthorne Elementary School on preventative measures they can take to get ready for rising waters.
The Orchard Homes area saw record flooding take over the streets last Spring while tons of volunteers filled bags day and night to eventually control the damage. Now residents are bracing for another round of spring flooding.
Missoula County Office of Emergency Management Director Adriane Beck says early season signs show a mild flood season but that could change at any moment.
“Making sure people kind of have that relative scale so they know what to expect. But certainly, the weather can do what the weather does and so we’ll have to react to that,” Beck said. “So, if we were to get a large amount of precipitation or a rapid warm-up we could be in a much worse scenario.”
No one has been evacuated yet, but Missoula County commissioners have approved an emergency flood proclamation to start the beginning prep stages of at least minor flooding in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, filled sandbags available for public use at Fort Missoula on D Road, on a self serve basis.
-Jack Ginsburg reporting for MTN News
