Flood-Damaged Levee May Mean Trouble For Tiny Rockford

A levee damaged by the New Year’s Day flood leaves the town of Rockford in danger should Rock Creek rise again, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps plans $45,000 in repairs beginning April 6. The work should take about two weeks, said Doug Weber, natural disaster manager from Seattle.

High water in the meantime could cause a dike failure and flooding “many times worse than what the town experienced in January,” Rockford officials wrote in a request for an $8,000 grant to cover the town’s share of repair costs.

But while other streams and lakes in the region were spilling over their banks, Rock Creek was well below flood stage Wednesday, said town Fire Chief Stan Seehorn. Rain on top of snow caused January’s flood, Seehorn noted. Now, there’s little snow left in the Rock Creek watershed.

“It’d have to rain continuously” for the creek to spill over the levee, Seehorn said.

The January flood did about $500,000 damage to 11 buildings.

Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday approved the town’s request for $8,000 in community development money to pay the town’s share. That federal money is administered by the county to help low-income communities.

Town officials reported on the grant application that Rockford has 524 residents, and 322 of them are low-income.

, DataTimes