Flooding Earns County Emergency Status

Tue., June 11, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Flooding and the prospect of more flooding prompted Gov. Phil Batt to declare a state of emergency Monday for Boundary County.

The area has been awash in high water since June 4 because of record snowpack in Canada, and high runoff in Canada, Idaho and Montana.

The flooding is aggravating problems with soils already saturated by heavy rain. Between 15 and 20 percent of the highly productive crop land in the Kootenai River Valley is as yet unplanted because farmers cannot get out in their fields.

The Kootenai River is running at near-record levels and took out a 140-foot section of a stone dike on Saturday. That flooded a house and barn located north of Bonners Ferry.

A crack developed in the dike during February flooding, leading to flooding of about 7,000 acres of cropland. Workers are patching the dike. , DataTimes

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