After heavy rains flood Libby and wash out bridges and roads, more moisture is on the way

Jasmine Augustine, who lives near Parmenter Creek, just south of the roughly 2,700-resident northwestern Montana town of Libby, watched the stream wash over its bank and part of a nearby trail in a major flooding event that struck Lincoln County this week. Augustine spent Thursday listening to boulders crash into rushing water about 100 feet below her house. She said she used to enjoy the creek’s quaint rocky waterfall.

“I got a suspicion that it’s probably not there anymore,” Augustine said.

A combination of heavy rains from an “atmospheric river” and rapid snowmelt driven by unseasonably warm temperatures caused flooding that washed out roads and at least nine bridges in the area, leading to a boil order for city-supplied water and an emergency declaration by Gov. Greg Gianforte on Thursday. That status makes additional state resources and money available for disaster response. 

Local, state and federal government agencies and the American Red Cross have deployed emergency response teams.

Lincoln County is expecting light rain on Saturday before another big influx of Pacific moisture on Monday and Tuesday of next week, according to Missoula-based National Weather Service meteorologist Trent Parker. 

“We’ll see a cold front sometime Wednesday morning that’ll drop those snow levels down to the valley floor,” Parker said. “That’s kind of good news — to relieve some of the flooding issues that we’ve been having up there, to get some colder air in, lock in some of that snowpack water and reduce the amount that’s running off into the streams and valleys.”

As of Friday afternoon, there have been no reports of injuries, according to Zach Sherbo, Lincoln County’s public health manager and ad hoc public information officer for emergency responders. Sherbo said it’s currently difficult to measure the scale of the flooding. 

“It’s just the force of water — the sheer force of water — is able to wipe out bridges,” Sherbo said in a Friday interview with Montana Free Press. 

Road closures caused by the flood have caused up to 40-mile detours for some Troy and Libby residents. The Fisher River has risen nearly 4 feet and the Yaak River has risen roughly 5 feet, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The Lincoln County Health Department Facebook page is publishing updates and a map maintained by first responders shows active road and bridge closures.

According to Lt. Col. Thomas Figarelle, Gianforte has not activated the Montana National Guard. “We haven’t received a formal request for assistance,” Figarelle said Friday. “The Montana National Guard stands ready. We’ve proactively assessed our capabilities and we remain fully poised to assist the Montana Department of Emergency Services and our partners should the flooding situation in Montana require it.”

The Department of Emergency Services, which dispatched two people to work alongside other agencies on Friday, does not currently have an estimate for the cost for repairing flood damage or a price tag for the ongoing emergency response. 

Unlike roads and bridges, power infrastructure remains relatively intact.  

Jason Williams, chief operating officer of the Flathead Electric Cooperative, reported no power outages caused directly by floodwaters, though the co-op did temporarily cut power to about 180 members Thursday to enable repairs. The co-op is also dealing with downed trees as a result of ground softened by the torrent of rain and melting snow.

Williams said in a Friday interview that despite downed power lines along the washed-out Granite Creek Bridge, “As of now, we’re doing OK.” 

“Weather can change,” Williams added, “and that can change with it.”

Some residents offered their time and resources to emergency response efforts. Dallas Bowe, a longtime area resident who manages the county’s human resources, payroll and parks, opened the local rodeo arena for livestock owners who need a safe place for their animals. 

“I do know how difficult it can be in an emergency situation to find a place for them to have a safe place out of water,” said Bowe, who has 16 horses of her own.

The arena currently houses four horses and two alpacas.

It’s an unusual time of year for such weather in northwest Montana, according to meteorologist Parker. Wet weather systems coupled with warmer temperatures are more common in spring, he said, but make for a just-as-dangerous combination in December. 

“It’s just kind of been the recipe for disaster,” Parker said Friday.

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