Flood Warnings On Pend Oreille Rise Of 12 To 18 Inches Expected By Friday
People who live along the Pend Oreille River can expect floodwaters to rise 12 to 18 inches by Friday, authorities are warning.
If the prediction holds true, this year’s flood will exceed those in 1972 and 1974 but will still be less than the 1948 flood that inundated Cusick.
Pend Oreille County already has set a state record for presidential disaster declarations, with three since November, “and we’re working on a fourth,” Emergency Services Director JoAnn Boggs said.
She said county officials have requested presidential assistance for the current flooding, but so far have received only a state declaration. Earlier disaster declarations were for ice and snow storms last winter, and March flooding at Diamond Lake and other lakes.
Boggs said she is confident the near-record flooding along the Pend Oreille River will lead to a fourth presidential declaration. But she said flood waters need to recede before officials can conduct the evaluations necessary to loosen federal purse strings. Already Monday afternoon, the river was one-10th of an inch higher at Cusick than the peak it reached on May 23. Since then, many residents may not have noticed the 0.2-inch the river fell before it started going back up.
The 2,048.9-foot river elevation at Cusick on Monday was only about 3 feet below the top of the dike protecting the town. Experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today planned to re-examine the dike, which sprang a leak on May 15 and required emergency repairs.
Although the dike so far has kept Cusick dry, at least 50 homes elsewhere on the river are now flooded, Boggs said. She said it is difficult to know how many riverfront houses have water in them because so many have evacuated or are occupied seasonally.
Boggs was working Monday on the possibility of getting military-style pontoon bridges for several subdivisions whose access roads have been closed by flooding. Without the bridges, the roads are likely to remain closed for several more weeks. Many residents now are commuting by boat.
The National Weather Service said the elevation of Lake Pend Oreille, which feeds the Pend Oreille River, was 2,065.4 feet Monday, almost 2 feet above flood stage. The lake is expected to rise to 2,066 feet by Wednesday and crest just over 2,066 feet Thursday or Friday.
The flow at Albeni Falls Dam, on the Pend Oreille River just upstream from Newport, was 133,600 cubic feet per second Monday afternoon - well above flood stage of 106,000 cfs. The flow is expected to peak at 141,000 cfs by Friday.
Elsewhere in the region, the Weather Service said Priest River had risen about a foot since last Thursday, and likely will have slight increases before cresting about the middle of this week.
, DataTimes