More Water in the Mo.

[Nemont]

They are going to step up the releases. Also in this story I am wondering if the hilighted word is correct?

Fort Peck Dam release begins; residents warned

Associated Press The Billings Gazette | Posted: Thursday, June 2, 2011 1:17 pm | No Comments Posted

HELENA - Federal officials in charge of Fort Peck Dam started ramping up their water releases Thursday, as officials warned dozens of residents downstream their homes could flood when the peak is reached in the next two weeks.

The opening of the spillway gates will allow 15,000 cubic feet of water per second to flow into the Missouri River on Thursday, a figure that will gradually will increase to a record 50,000 cubic feet per second by mid-June, said dam operations manager John Daggett of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This year's releases are larger than ever because of recent rains and a snowpack twice as deep as average in parts of Montana. The most water that's ever been released from the dam is 35,000 cubic feet per second in the 1970s.

The increased volume of water is expected to cause flooding downstream, with higher water expected to reach Roosevelt County and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation by Saturday. The release from the dam is expected to remain at 50,000 cubic feet per second for at least a month after it reaches that point June 14.

"We expect to have high water here through the end of July, minimum," said Roosevelt County spokeswoman Darla Shumway

County officials are trying to shore up the riverbanks in areas that could flood and are building up earthen dykes to protect Wolf Point's sewage system, Shumway said.

Most towns are on high ground and are not threatened by the higher water, but dozens of homes in low-lying areas near the Missouri River are in the flood zone, she said.

Authorities have gone door to door to notify 36 families to make preparations, though no mandatory evacuation orders have been issued.

Many families plan to leave for higher ground and have started to move property, machinery and livestock out of the area, said Rev. Steve Smith, a volunteer emergency coordinator for Roosevelt County. Most are making arrangements to stay with relatives or friends, but plans are being made to open shelters if necessary, Smith said.

Others, like John and Linda Grandchamp, say they won't leave their homes, but will wait and see what the river does.

John Grandchamp said he has been living in his home for 45 years 200 yards from the Missouri River and about three miles south of Frazier. Their daughter lives in a log house about 100 yards away.

John Grandchamp, 64, said he wasn't home when the county officials came by with their warnings. They left a notice on his door of his home, which situated at a horseshoe bend of the river.

Grandchamp said he's heard different accounts from different people of what may happen as a result of the dam releases, and he's "not getting too excited yet." He's got 90 cows and calves he may move to a neighbor's land, but he doesn't want to leave if he doesn't have to.

"I'm just going to sit tight until the water gets to my door and then we'll leave," he said

.

 

[noharleyyet]

Also in this story I am wondering if the hilighted word is correct?

...fixed it.

building up earthy dykes to protect Wolf Point's sewage system,

 

[Big Fin]

Nemont - I hope you guys are under a solid roof right now. We are in Malta fishing for walleyes and a serious hail storm just filled the boat with white stuff. Fortunately, we had got off the water with a bunch of fish, so we were in protected shelter when it came. To be out on the water when that one came would have been a painful experience.

It should be at your place right about now. Hope it has petered out and dissipated by the time it gets there.

 

[Nemont]

Big Fin,

It went south of Glasgow and hit the Fort Peck and downstream camp ground area we only got more rain and some thunder here in town. Looking a the doppler radar there is another one cooking up NE of Harlem and heading east. Should miss us though.

They have flash flood warnings all over southern Phillips and Valley County right now. Looking west at the Great Falls radar there is alot of rain coming.

Glad to hear the fish are biting.

Nemont

 

[Horn Seeker]

A levee, levée, dike (or dyke), embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river or the coast

This whole water situation is something to behold... wow.