Spring flooding risk high in Lake County

RONAN — The Lake County Planning Department hosted an informational meeting about potential spring flooding in Lake County on Thursday at the Ronan Community Center.

Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Missoula, made the first presentation of the evening. He discussed his office’s efforts to track La Niña, a weather phenomenon that causes surface temperature cooling in the Pacific Ocean.

Nickless said that as La Niña has built up, the Western United States, particularly mountainous areas, have experienced an unusual amount of moisture. He cited La Niña as an important factor in this winter’s heavy snowfall, and predicted that it would continue to cause above-average precipitation throughout March.

According to Nickless, the increased moisture and resulting snowpacks could cause flooding in Lake County this spring.

“Every year we have experienced above average snowpacks, we have also experienced some type of flooding,” Nickless said.

He compared current snowpacks to those present in 1997.

“We ended up having a lot of flooding in the Missions in ‘97,” Nickless said. “So what is the flood potential here in Lake County this year? I believe it’s pretty high.”

The National Weather Service currently puts the chance of spring flooding in Western Montana at 67 percent, and Nickless estimates that the chance of flooding in Lake County is higher still.

He ended his presentation on a lighter note, joking “you shouldn’t have to worry about draught conditions any time soon.”

Nickless provided a moment of levity in what soon became a serious meeting dominated by audience discussion.

A number of attendees raised concerns about the county’s past responses to flooding. Many comments were directed toward the project manager for the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project, who happened to be present at the meeting.

“I don’t need a scientist to tell me my property is flooded,” said one local farmer, “What I need is someone I can count on to help me.”

Of foremost concern to those whose properties and livelihoods could be affected by flooding was finding a government contact to provide answers.

“We just want to know when it’s going to get bad,” one man said, summing up the sentiment of many in attendance.

After about 45 minutes of discussion, the audience returned to the scheduled agenda, and listened to a presentation on flood insurance from Marijo Brady, Manager of the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program in Montana.

Brady highlighted the benefits of having flood insurance, most notably, having the ability to file claims for a variety of flood-related damages. She emphasized that relying on government aid, which is provided once a presidential declaration has been issued, is a risky strategy.

“There have been 13 presidential declarations in Montana, but never one in Lake County,” Brady said. “When you carry insurance you can make a claim whether or not there has been a presidential declaration.”

Brady encouraged those interested in an insurance plan to start the process as soon as possible, as there is a 30 day waiting period before the plan goes into effect.

[For further resources contact Tiffany Lyden in the Lake County Planning Department at tlyden@lakemt.gov]