Encouraging News on Missoula area Flooding
There is some positive news on the Missoula area flooding front.
Director of the Missoula County Office of Emergency management, Adriane Beck, sounded a hopeful note after the long Memorial Day weekend.
"Fortunately over the weekend, some of the predictions turned out to be an overestimate," said Beck. "We did not see what we were anticipating based on the models. Flood waters did not get as high as we thought, and in fact, the longer term picture is looking better and better every day, and that we're starting to see a continual recession of the waters, and potentially even getting out of the flood stage by late this week or early next week."
Beck also had encouraging news for those who have been displaced from their homes by the swollen Clark Fork River.
"We're continually working with the Sheriff's Office and our local health officials as well to determine where it may be appropriate to lift some of those evacuation orders and being to assist those individuals with some of those recovery efforts," she said. "Those meetings are ongoing, and hopefully, we'll have some updates on that on Thursday."
Beck also addressed the status of the Bitterroot River near Missoula.
"We did see the Bitterroot get into that flood stage late last week, and through the weekend we did see a little bit of a crest," she said. "The good news is that it was a crest and it does appear to be receding right now. The concern that we have going forward for the remainder of flood season will be Mother Nature and any kind of significant precipitation that could impact the river basins, either the Clark Fork or the Bitterroot."