Flood — Carbon, Montana

2011-05-20 to 2011-05-26 · near Washoe, Carbon, Montana

Event narrative

Significant flooding occurred on creeks and streams across Carbon County with numerous county roads flooded, closing roads and resulting in significant damage. Emergency Travel only was advised at one point due to the severity of the flooding. Specifically, Rock Creek flooded, resulting in adjacent lowland flooding and closure of Grape Vine Road near Fromberg. Creeks were running out of their banks from the Beartooth Foothills between McLeod and Red Lodge, as well as tributaries of the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River from Belfry to Bridger. Five Mile Creek flooded and washed out the bridge on East Pryor Road between Edgar and Pryor. Blue Water Creek east of Bridger flooded and washed out a county road as well. The heavy rainfall also resulted in water running over the spillway at Cooney Dam. This resulted in several homes flooded along Red Lodge Creek.

On May 25th, significant flooding was reported in the town of Joliet as debris backed up Rock Creek resulting in evacuations. At the peak of this flooding, Highway 212 was closed from Rockvale to Red Lodge as 18 inches of water was reported on Highway 212 through the town of Joliet. Fifty homes flooded in the area and seven people, mainly elderly, had to leave with the assistance of the fire and sheriffs offices. The Joliet Motel reported a foot of water in each of their rooms.

In addition, an 84-year-old woman drowned after she fell into a flooded ditch near her house. She was going to get her newspaper when she slipped and fell. The woman was swept a short distance downstream from her house near Boyd, where authorities found her body.

Damage estimates based on FEMA reviews and Individual Assistance approvals.

Wider weather episode

A Pacific low moved into the four corners region on the 17th and migrated northeast into the Dakotas through the 22nd, bringing another round of heavy precipitation aided by a tap of Gulf of Mexico moisture. Another system passed to the south on the 23rd and 24th, continuing the precipitation across the area. A new all-time daily precipitation record for Billings was set on May 24th. These two systems brought a total of 4 to 7 inches of precipitation to the area through the 25th. From May 29th through May 31st, another Pacific storm system moved northeast through the Billings Forecast Area, producing a half inch to 2 inches of precipitation across the area. A few areas received close to 3 inches of precipitation. The culmination of precipitation events resulted in historic flooding across the Billings Forecast Area. The monthly precipitation for May resulted in the wettest May ever recorded in Billings.

Widespread, severe flooding occurred across the entire Billings Forecast Area. Many roads and bridges were damaged or washed out across the area, including closure of I-90 between Livingston and Springdale eastbound lanes. The Montana Department of Transportation alone estimated over $36 million in damage to state and federal highways across the state of Montana. Hundreds of homes and trailers and multiple businesses experienced flood damage. There was damage to flood control dams. On May 19th, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer declared an emergency for the state. In addition, the Governor requested that the President declare a major disaster for the State of Montana on June 1st, as a result of substantial widespread flooding. Governor Schweitzer deployed the Montana National Guard in Roundup and Crow Agency to help with flood response efforts May 28th and 29th. Flood emergencies were declared by the Governor for all but three counties in the Billings Forecast area. Emergency declarations included the Crow Reservation in Big Horn County. There were two fatalities, an elderly woman in Boyd in Carbon County fell into a flooded ditch and was swept away, and a man from Huntley in Yellowstone County was killed on an excavator when flooding from Pryor Creek overtook him. Multiple Emergency Operation Centers and Incident Commands were set up across the area, including in Billings in Yellowstone County, and in Park County to coordinate flood relief and response efforts.

A persistant upslope northeast flow into the region resulted in another round of locally heavy rainfall again on May 29-30th. An additional 1-2 inches of rainfall were noted, especially for the Beartooth and Big Horn Mountain foothill areas. This resulted in prolonged or even renewed flooding in some locations through the end of the month.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.0168, -109.2340)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 308650. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.