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The two major floods were created by warm weather along sections of the Rocky Mountain
Front causing storms to "lift" over the mountains creating devastating flash floods that inundated
Calgary and Boulder.
It's not impossible the Bitterroot, and other ranges west of the Divide could see flash
flooding if storms with extreme heavy rains hit Western Montana. However, experts say
the likelihood of those conditions is reduced by geography, giving us a zone of protection.
But like Colorado, much of the upper Bitterroot watershed has been hit hard by recent fires.
However, the Forest Service sends in 'BEAR" or Burned Area Emergency Response teams, to
evaluate flash flood risk, using field checks and satellite data...
ED SNOOK/BITTERROOT NAT'L FOREST HYDROLOGIST "We're supposed to have an assessment done,
and a request in for any needed funding within a week. And we look at the value of the infrastructure
on the land and the potential risk to resources and roads, trails, anything of value to us."
And burns have contributed to flash floods before. Several homes were damaged on Laird
Creek right after the 2000 fires. But Snook says that risk is often localized, diminishing
downstream...
SNOOK "In the case of a large watershed like the
Bitterroot River, the farther you do down river the more likely it is that the fire
has burned only a small portion of the watershed. And therefore any post-fire flood response
is gonna be diluted by all that ground that's growing health grass, timber, anything that
can soak up water."
SNOOK "We look at watersheds being sensitive to
rain events after fires for at least 3-to-5 years. And in extreme cases it's more around
10-years."
At the Ravalli County Department of Emergency Management, officials have access to a number
of plans, dealing with everything from runoff to flash flood potential, and even the potential
for one of 13-dams to fail...
RON NICHOLAS/ DIR. RAVALLI CO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT "Every year we assess what we might be looking
at. The Weather Service works with us and if we know for sure that we're going to have
some problems we gear up the sandbag program."
DB STANDUP They say fire and water don't mix. But for
Bitterroot residents and emergency responders the experience of evacuating from wildfire
could come in handy...
NICHOLAS "It would be the very same as the fire situation.
It's in the sheriff's hands of course. He's got all of his men trained. And they know
how to do that. They do it very well."
NICHOLAS "They've got to have a plan. What they're
going to take with them, who they're going to take, animals involved, where do we move
them?"
And as the valley develops, keeping all risks in mind is really a "best practice"...
NICHOLAS "First off, find out if there is anything
up above in the way of a dam. Because we do have several high hazard dams here in the
valley. Those are kinds of things I'd be looking for."
On Special Assignment, Dennis Bragg, MTN News.