Flood Warnings Issued For Western Montana Rivers

The Yellowstone River was still a foot above flood stage here Saturday, and about 150 people were still out of their homes, but officials said the situation seemed to be stabilizing.

“It’s still pretty serious,” said Homer Young, manager of the state emergency operations center in Helena.

Heavier earth-moving equipment arrived during the night, allowing workers to dump boulders into place to stabilize eroding shoreline near the bridge, officials said. The smaller rocks they had used in recent days simply washed away in the powerful river current.

In western Montana, the Bitterroot River continued to rise but was still below flood stage. Forecasters issued a flood warning from Darby to Florence because of concern about fast-melting snowpack and thunderstorms.

The weather bureau extend flood warnings for several rivers in western and southern Montana into next week.

Flood warnings for the Boulder River, Rock Creek and the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River continue through Tuesday.