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The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 9:55 am
by classicat
Does anyone else find it pretty amazing that nearly half of Montana is under water? I don't know, seems pretty crazy to me.

Just saw a video of Roundup this morning, ya, pretty wet. Apparently I-90 is closed between Livingston and Big Timber. I heard upwards of 33 bridges are out around Fergus County and eastern Montana is just covered by water. Of course Billings has waterfalls now coming over the rims, which must actually be kinda pretty, unless you live in a house under them.

I haven't looked at all online sites but I'm a little surprised that not much has been picked up nationally. But then again, tornadoes and loss of life are much bigger stories.

Anyone have any amazing stories to share about their own experiences?

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:35 am
by LTown Cat
Its been crazy here. Parts of town have been under water for about 2 weeks. Roads closed, bridges out (I actually heard 38 bridges in Fergus County), talk of dam failures, and on and on. I was up until about 3 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning sandbagging the north side of downtown. All the streets were covered with about 2-3 feet of water. When I came to work at 7:30 the next morning it was all gone. It comes and goes very quickly with the rain. Yesterday things were drying but more rain is on the horizon starting today for the next 4-5 days... :x

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:40 am
by classicat
Yes and I just heard that the highway east of town, towards Grass Range is closed now due to the highway caving in. I don't know how to upload pics but saw one of Roundup...the water is up to the roof of the Busy Bee Cafe there. It is truly a disaster!

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:05 pm
by kcatz

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:09 pm
by LTown Cat
classicat wrote:Yes and I just heard that the highway east of town, towards Grass Range is closed now due to the highway caving in. I don't know how to upload pics but saw one of Roundup...the water is up to the roof of the Busy Bee Cafe there. It is truly a disaster!
From here we generally consider the big town trips to be Billings (via Grass Range), Bozeman, or Great Falls. I'm told that the only way to get to any of those 3 towns from here is to go to Billings via Big Timber. All other routes to Billings are closed. I'm told the highway to Great Falls is closed @ Belt and the interstate between Big Timber and Livingston is closed so no Bozeman trips. Its a weird feeling.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 12:33 pm
by classicat
Yes, feels a bit like you're trapped. Like a co-worker of mine said, you're used to hearing about things like this in Missouri but not here.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 1:32 pm
by wbtfg
Just got an email from a friend of mine who lives down by Hardin saying that he has currenly pumped over 8,000 gallons of water out of his basement and it's still flowing in with no end in sight.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:30 pm
by AlphaGriz1
Image

East side of Big Timber right before the first exit to the town.

Water across the highway for 100-150 yards.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:59 pm
by classicat
I can't figure out how to upload a pic. Help?

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:12 pm
by CATCO
This sucks, I am trying to head east from Bozeman tomorrow (going to Deadwood; already paid for a house for the weekend), and I need to obviously go through Big Timber, then to Hardin and over through Broadus. I have heard the interstate is open again in Hardin and that Big Timber is diverting eastbound traffic to one of the lanes on the west bound side, so you can still get through...anyone know for sure?

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:40 pm
by AlphaGriz1
classicat wrote:I can't figure out how to upload a pic. Help?

Right click on the image you want to post and select "copy image url" or "copy image location"

Select post a reply and click the [Img] tag above the text window.

Click in between the brackets [Img.] here [/Img.] right click and select paste to put the URL in between the brackets then click submit.



If you have an image you are trying to post on here it has to be uploaded to a site like photo bucket, myspace or facebook, then you Right click on the image you want to post and select "copy image url" or "copy image location"

You cant post straight from an image saved on your computer.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:46 pm
by CelticCat

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:50 pm
by classicat
Thanks but it seems easier to just post the link to the gallery.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... 65d.html#5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is roundup...they are saying 8 ft of water now. Yikes!

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 5:51 pm
by maroon
Here are some photos from the Lewistown area.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/p ... 001&Ref=PH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:12 pm
by Air Force Cat
CATCO wrote:This sucks, I am trying to head east from Bozeman tomorrow (going to Deadwood; already paid for a house for the weekend), and I need to obviously go through Big Timber, then to Hardin and over through Broadus. I have heard the interstate is open again in Hardin and that Big Timber is diverting eastbound traffic to one of the lanes on the west bound side, so you can still get through...anyone know for sure?
I was in Hardin today and the interstate has been opened back up and it doesn't look too terrible. Lot of water in town though

Re: The Floods

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:14 pm
by Cledus
I did some work auditing insurance claims, which included a lot of floods in Louisiana (before Katrina). After looking through a lot of pictures submitted with claims I remember thinking how absolutely complete the damage can be. Even if it's just water, a lot of a person's possessions are completely destroyed and the homes become uninhabitable. Complete losses. I knew then I would never be without flood insurance.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 1:34 am
by grizzh8r
CATCO wrote:This sucks, I am trying to head east from Bozeman tomorrow (going to Deadwood; already paid for a house for the weekend), and I need to obviously go through Big Timber, then to Hardin and over through Broadus. I have heard the interstate is open again in Hardin and that Big Timber is diverting eastbound traffic to one of the lanes on the west bound side, so you can still get through...anyone know for sure?
http://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/map/mtmap_frame.html

State of Montana Road Conditions Map. I have it bookmarked.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 6:03 am
by ChiOCat
It's unreal! I don't remember flooding like this in MT in my lifetime.

My in laws are here from Great Falls and my dad from Eureka. They're worrying how they will get home! It took my IL's an hour to get 7 miles along that stretch by Big Timber on Wednesday.

I tried to change my outlook during our 3rd big flood this spring, trying to remember that at least we can prepare for it. Now watching Missouri and Montana underwater I'm really able to appreciate that!

Re: The Floods

Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:49 pm
by AlphaGriz1
Its really not that big of a deal its just some extra water.

We will deal with it and we dont need any help from the federal government. They have much better things to waste money and time on.


We will deal with this with the insurance companies..............the way it should be.

Re: The Floods

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 2:51 am
by Cu-Ag-Au
Prelude to the other f-word. All that rain and runoff. A very green spring and early summer. Then the rain stops. The greenery turns brown. Wild fires, big time. Seen it before.