UPDATE: Floodwaters on the rise in Lincoln Valley

With floodwaters still on the rise in the Upper Blackfoot Valley and a the likelihood of addital flooding in the coming weeks, Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse says it’s time for people to put past differences aside and help their neighbors out.

“At this point we’ve got so many problems with the flooding; what is going on your property could be affecting the people below you or above you,” he said. “At this point we’re all in it together and we need to really work together to try to get through this flooding. We’ve got a month or more of this left and we really, really need to work together to try to get through this and help each other.”

Warm weather Sunday, May 6 followed by evening rain that moved into the area, increased the already high water levels around Lincoln and pushed local creeks out of their banks, flooding low lying areas around the Upper Blackfoot Valley.

The rising water prompted Muse to put out a call to community members on Facebook Monday evening to help fill sandbags in preparation for additional flooding.

"If we could get people to help out their community filling sand bags and getting them ready so folks can spend a little more time trying save their property and stacking them around their homes, it would be hugely appreciated," he said in the post.

Flooding within the county prompted Lewis and Clark County Commissioners to sign a proclamation of emergency Thursday, May 3. The proclamation allowed county officials, including the LVFD, to begin distribution of sand and sandbags.

Although the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department had sand available at Fires Station 3, that ran out quickly and Muse asked that people who want to help go to Hooper Park, where the county has been dumping the material gathered during local street sweeping activities as an additional source of filler for sandbags.

By Monday evening several people had already contacted Muse via Facebook to volunteer and throughout the week volunteers and Lincoln High School students have been busy filling sandbags for use by landowners how need them.

In the Upper Blackfoot, areas of Poorman Creek have seen some of the worst flooding. The increased water flows pushed the creek out of its banks and overwhelmed culverts in the McClellan Gulch area. Several homes there have already been affected by flooding after water rose considerably over the weekend.

Likewise, homes in the Good News Lane and Blackfoot River Ranch Road areas west of town have been affected by flooding from Beaver Creek. And Spring Creek

South of Lincoln, floodwaters inundated the Lincoln Community River Park on the south bank of the Blackfoot River, and water flowing out of Humbug Creek pouring across Stemple Pass Road about two miles south of town has made it virtually impassable for most cars, but not to four-wheel drive vehicles. Likewise, water from Willow Creek is still flowing through a new channel carved across Herrin Lake Road near Sunny Slope Ranch, Bear Creek was flowing over the road in the same area, and water had nearly overwhelmed the Willow Creek culverts on Dalton Mountain Road. By Monday evening, the Blackfoot River was running only about three feet below the Dalton Mountain Bridge deck.

North and west of town, Spring Creek and Keep Cool Creek were well out of their banks by Monday.

According the then National Weather Service in Great Falls, the other areas of flooding could develop as rainfall continues and higher elevation snow continues to melt. Although the cooler weather expected this week could help slow snowmelt, the National Weather Service is also predicting a chance of rain and thunderstorms the Lincoln area into the weekend. Recently Muse reported there is still about 60 inches of snow in the Copper Bowls, with a water equivalent of about 38 inches.

Typically flooding in the Lincoln area occurs in mid to late May and into early June.