Lincoln County floodwaters recede

A state of emergency remains in place in Lincoln County following flooding throughout Libby and Troy Wednesday, but waters had receded to safe levels by Thursday morning, according to county officials.

County Emergency Manager Kirk Kraft said the emergency declaration — which frees up funding from the state — will remain in place until the county finishes repairing roads in Libby and Troy that were washed out by the sudden flooding.

“There was some substantial damage for kind of a quick event,” Kraft said. “Usually, flooding occurs more in January and a little later in the spring. This is a little earlier than normal, but it was a quick event.”

Water rose quickly Wednesday as several days of rain and melting high-elevation snow caused stream flows to spike dramatically.

Temperatures dropped by Thursday, however, and precipitation turned to snow instead of rain.

By Thursday morning, U.S. Geological Survey gauges on the Yaak and Fisher rivers showed the volume of water was roughly half of its peak the day before, but was still at historic highs for the day.

Several homes and other structures near Callahan Creek in Troy were affected by the flooding, but Kraft said emergency crews were able to keep the rising waters from getting into many residences.

“It was up to the foundations and so forth, but not many of them actually had inside damage,” he said

He added that no injuries were reported during the brief flood event.

With the flooding over, the county is focusing on getting damaged roads back to normal. More than 300 feet of St. Regis Road in Troy was washed out, as well as some of the road near the Keeler Creek bridge.

In Libby, the Granite Creek Road is expected to be usable by the end of the day after part of the road bed washed out.  

Colder weather helped slow the rate of runoff from the mountains, but Kirk said weather was creating new challenges as road repairs get underway.

“Now we’re in the middle of a snowstorm, so we’ll have to change gears and change hats,” he said.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.