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Rain bringing more flooding, roads closed

Disaster declaration requests being considered

More than four inches of rain in a week in north-central Montana may have helped ease worries of drought, but are bringing back other worries with flooding occurring, roads closed and flash flood warnings in effect in some locations.

Rain with few breaks over the last six days has dropped close to five inches of rain at the National Weather Service reporting station at the Havre City-County Airport, once again putting most of Beaver Creek Golf Course under water, flooding private roads and closing some public roads including Beaver Creek Road at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and Clear Creek Road in Blaine County.

National Weather Service Sunday extended its flood watch warning for Chouteau County and eastern Hill County and to counties to the east. Flash flood warnings were issued for northwestern Chouteau County, including Big Sandy, and parts of Judith Basin and Fergus counties.

Debbie Gessaman, assistant Chouteau County Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator, said this morning that some roads have been closed and that some flooding has been reported near Big Sandy, at Cow Island.

Officials at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation Friday reported that water was going over the spillways at Bonneau and East Fork dams, right about the time that rain started to slack off that day.

Dustin White of the Tribal Water Resources Department said this morning that the levels at those dams had started to drop off, but were rising again and both had water going over the spillways again.

Bonneau Dam received 1.75 inches of precipitation between 6 p.m. Sunday and 6 this morning, while East Fork Dam received 2.5 inches, as has the Rocky Boy Agency area, he reported.

Water was flowing over Beaver Creek Road in six locations, forcing closure of the road, he said. A number of residential driveways also have been washed out, and the Lower Box Elder Creek Irrigation Diversion has been damaged and is not functioning, White said.

Hill County DES Coordinator Joe Parenteau said the flooding is close to what was seen in 2011, with the creek flowing over access roads at lower Beaver Creek, although he had not heard of the water level actually rising to the level of houses.

“The sump pumps are running full-steam,” he added.

Beaver Creek Park — declared a presidential disaster area along with Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation due to flooding in both 2010 and 2011 — is again seeing extensive flooding.

“It’s pretty much the same as what it was. Creek levels are rising again … ,” Parenteau said. “Damage has, and continues to be, done.”

The Hill County Road Department is closing the cutacross from U.S. Highway 87 near Fort Assinniboine to U.S. Highway 2, and Blaine County has closed part of Clear Creek Road and is requesting Hill County post closures at access to the road, Parenteau said.

Parenteau said that work done in the last three years in response to the heavy floods in 2010 and 2011 seems to have helped mitigate some of the damage from the flooding so far.

Blaine County DES Coordinator Haley Gustitis said water had closed roads, primarily in the Bear Paw Mountains, in that county, including the county-maintained Clear Creek Road from about 25 to 30 miles south of Chinook and some other roads south of the town.

She said water levels had receded in some areas by Sunday afternoon but were starting to rise again this morning.

The designated contact for Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Chief Administrative Officer Loren “Bum” Stiffarm, could not be reached for comment by printing deadline this morning.

Parenteau said, as he and other officials said last week, that he is continuing to monitor the situation and would be meeting with the Hill County Commission this morning.

He said part of the discussion would be whether to make an emergency or disaster declaration.

Gustitis said she likely will issue an emergency declaration, but doubts that the damage in Blaine County, as of this morning, would lead to a disaster declaration.

 

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