Man rescued from Montana floodwaters as water keeps rising

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Montana rescuers pulled a man from raging floodwaters and authorities warned of dangerous debris being swept downstream as water levels continued rising Friday in rivers and streams across the western half of the state.

The Clark Fork River in Missoula was expected to crest Saturday at its highest level in 100 years, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Heavy rains in recent days added to the deluge caused primarily by melting mountain snows.

Floodwaters already have inundated some houses and trailer homes in a low-lying neighborhood in Montana’s second-largest city.

Many residents of the more than 65 houses under evacuation orders refused to leave. That put both residents and emergency personnel in danger as debris surged downstream, including sheds, a propane tank and the remains of at least one trailer home that was pushed off its foundation and broke apart in the floodwaters, authorities said.

“It’s a great public safety concern for us,” said Mel Holtz, a firefighter and spokesman for the flood response effort. “Obviously it’s a very difficult time for people to leave, but we have concerns over utilities in that area because the electricity is still on and there’s a lot of debris in the water.”

The rescued man was using a small raft to reach a camp for transients on a partially submerged island on the Fork Thursday night.

Firefighters at the river’s edge noticed him hanging onto a tree and still in the raft, Holtz said. Rescuers used a boat to pull him to safety.

No injuries had been reported as of Friday morning, Holtz said. Occupants of about 800 Missoula houses were under warning that they may have to evacuate if conditions deteriorate.

Water also was pushing into residential areas downstream along the Clark Fork in the town of Frenchtown, where occupants of two houses were ordered to evacuate.

River levels are forecast to drop slightly with the arrival of cooler weather early next week, then spike to even higher levels by week’s end, said meteorologist Clark Ryan Leach.

“We’re very confident it’s going to be above major flood stage for at least the next week,” Leach said.

The river is expected to say at major flood level for at least a week, giving plenty of time for it to do more damage, said National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Lukinbeal.

Personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were monitoring area levees but they were not expected to be topped, Holtz said.

Elsewhere in the state floodwaters threatened homes along the Blackfoot River near Lincoln and portions of Lewis and Clark, Jefferson and Broadwater counties. Minor flooding was reported along the Flathead River at Columbia Falls.