Rainstorm triggers flooding along Stonewall Creek

The rainstorm that came through the Lincoln area Friday the Stonewall Creek to come out of its banks north of town, flooding houses in the Parlin Park area and turning Stonewall Creek Road and Youderian Drive into small rivers.

Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse said it appears a flash flood washed debris from the Park Creek fire area into the creek, plugging the channel and causing the flood. He said the water pushed rock and debris into the Stonewall subdivision and flooded yards and driveways there.

In addition to impacting houses in the area, the water also washed away the dirt and gravel on Stonewall Creek Road and Youderian Drive, leaving the roads a mess of trenches and bare rock that are nearly impassable.

"Gonna be a ton of road work for the county," Muse said.

Muse credited Marshall Bullis and Paul Roos for bringing in equipment and working to clear out debris to get the creek flowing back into its channel. The area is no longer flooding and there's no water flowing down roads, but the area remains closed to everyone but residents of the area.

In an interview with KRTV news in Great Falls, Muse said one of the hardest things to deal with has been keeping people out of the area who want to see the damage.

In addition to high elevation snowpack that is still melting off, much of the Stonewall Creek area saw intense burning during the Park Creek Fire last summer, leaving areas of hydrophobic soils that repel water, rather than letting it soak in. Last fall Katherine Condon, the hydrologist on the Helena- Lewis and Clark National Forest Burned Area Emergency Response team, told the BVD that during big storm events, such as those seen in late spring and early summer, water can run off the surface of the soil in large amounts. If enough rain falls in the area, it can cause destructive runoff and flooding.