While officials warn that conditions could change in a heartbeat, worries that the Havre region may experience more severe flooding seem to be dropping with warmer, dryer weather coming into the area this week.
Blaine County — originally one of the highest points of worry in the state for flooding — has braced all week for possible severe flooding on the Milk River, but the county public information officer, Comissioner Vic Miller, said Thursday night conditions are improving.
“Nothing dramatic has happened since (I updated conditions Wednesday evening) except watching the water come up and hoping (it will) peak, ” he said in an email. “The estimate is that things will remain this way until Monday when the water should be getting back to normal. ”
Hill and Blaine counties were considered in February and March to be one of the regions most likely to flood due to extreme high levels of snow in the northern parts of the counties. Slower-than-expected melting led to less problems than anticipated, although flooding and damage to roads did occur.
Miller said this week that the county government is staying in close contact with the Red Cross, as well as state and federal agencies, and is prepared to act if flooding occurs in Harlem or Chinook.
Flooding hit the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation on multiple occasions and is still continuing, with residents in the northeastern corner seeing homes flood several times since March and flooding leading to evacuations in Hays and Lodge Pole a few weeks ago.
Avis Spencer, public information officer for Fort Belknap, said this morning that the Hays-Lodge Pole area is starting to dry up, but flooding continues in the northeastern corner and families have had to leave their homes in the Milk River Valley on the northern part of the reservation.
She said the Milk River was at 22.99 feet this morning, with the flood stage at 21 feet, with more to come from snowmelt in the Rockies and in Canada.
“So we’re just waiting for more to come, ” Spencer said.
The Red Cross was still at Lodge Pole to help flood victims but was expected to leave that area today, Spencer said.
Last weekend, a heavy rain in the Bear’s Paw Mountains led to flooding on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and in Hill County, with severe damage in Beaver Creek Park and flooding on the southern part of Beaver Creek near Havre.
The Hill County Commission declared an emergency last Friday, as well as closing Beaver Creek Park to recreation.
Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland said this morning that park Superintendent Chad Edgar hopes to have some recreation areas in the park reopened by next week, although some areas will take more time to reopen.
Edgar said at a Hill County Park Board meeting Monday that Firemans Campground is likely to remain closed all summer.
Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Joe Parenteau confirmed this morning that conditions in Hill County continue to improve.
“With sunshine, no wind, no rain, we’re looking pretty darn good this morning, ” Parenteau said.
He said the levels of Beaver Creek and Big Sandy Creek were dropping, and the Milk had dropped enough to allow the gates at the Bullhook Diversion to be open.
The gates at the diversion into the Milk River had been closed when the level of the river had risen high enough that it would backfill the Bullhook. Pumps had to be used to drain the water from the Havre storm sewer system over the Milk River levee into the river.
The pumps have been shut off, with the water flowing into the river naturally, Parenteau said.
Water from the Bullhook Dam south of Havre also is being released to drain the levels there, he said.
Parenteau said the next major concern — barring a major storm dropping large amounts of water in the region — will be the Milk River level spiking next week as water from the Rockies and Canada move through the region.
