Signs of flooding across county

Though officials had been bracing themselves to face flooding across Crook County, so far Mother Nature has been kind. The March 13 snowstorm brought extra moisture to the region and was followed by several warm days, prompting concern that the sudden melt would cause creeks to top their banks and roads to wash out.

At present, many county waterways are running high or beginning to escape their banks. Hulett Clerk Melissa Bears reported on Monday morning that the Belle Fourche had overflowed in town.

Despite the abundance of water, few roads are showing signs of flooding, though residents should be aware when traveling that there are small flooded portions near Prairie Creek and on the D Road, the rest area in Moorcroft has been closed and melt is flowing into Keyhole more quickly than the reservoir can be drained.

“The Belle appears to be running full, but it’s not really flooding,” says Brad Marchant, WYDOT Area Maintenance Crew Supervisor.

“The water is high in Hulett, but it’s not bad. It’s a lot better than I was expecting up here.”

Hardest hit so far is the rest area just outside Moorcroft, Marchant says.

“Upstream from Keyhole is where the hell is breaking loose. The rest area at Moorcroft is all underwater because there is more water coming in to Keyhole than they’re releasing right now,” he says.

“It’s clear up past the rest area now.”

Road & Bridge Foreman Morgan Ellsbury has meanwhile seen only a couple of areas where the flooding has been consistent over the last few days.

“There’s not much of anything so far – not that affects the roads. I’ve only got a few places that are overtopping the road,” he says.

“Right now, I’ve got a place on the D Road a half mile off the interstate that it’s pretty persistent and won’t go down. It’s just a matter of that I don’t have enough culvert to it to deal with this type of run-off. Prairie Creek at the bottom of Little Missouri Rd has been going over the road for three days now, but that’s really the only consistency – other than that, it’s here and there.”

Ellsbury reports that Arch Creek, Wind Creek, the Belle Fourche River and Prairie Creek were all running high or overtopping their banks as the week began. By Monday evening, the Little Missouri and the north fork of the Little Missouri were both flooding.

Whether the high levels cause further flooding “just depends on how warm it gets and how much rain we get,” he says.

Marchant suspects that the snowstorm actually had a positive effect on some water levels.

“I haven’t seen a lot of water running, I think most of our water is going straight into the ground. We had so much heavy snow that I think it insulated the ground and kept it from freezing as badly,” he suggests. “A lot of snow melted, but it’s not hitting watersheds.”

But while the melt from the storm has so far not caused much issue, there may be problems to come when April arrives.

“As of right now, I don’t see much to really worry about because I don’t see any impacts – but, then again, the Bearlodge hasn’t started melting yet,” Marchant says.

“There is a lot of snow up on the Bearlodge and if that stuff starts melting quick, then you’re going to have some problems. That’s usually what causes our problems: if it starts coming off the Bearlodge quick, it’s hitting drainages and it’s coming straight down instead of spreading out.”

Marchant anticipates that the Bearlodge melt will begin in April. Meanwhile, flooding issues to the west of the county be impacted by how much water needs to be released from Keyhole, he says.

Ellsbury advises caution while traveling for the time being.

“Be careful: if it’s going over the road, don’t cross it,” he says.