flooding

If you're headed to MontanaFair or have other outdoor events planned for Sunday (8/11), keep an eye on the weather. Severe weather is possible for Billings and the surrounding area through tonight.

In south central and southeast Montana, periods of heavy rain were possible through Tuesday and could prompt flooding in areas with already saturated soil, the weather service said

In eastern Montana, a flood watch was issued for the Little Bighorn River near Hardin. Up to six inches of snow was forecast near Wibaux.

With all the snow that western Montana has received over the past month, Montana’s State Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale encourages residents to look into flood insurance as the weather warms.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for areas along the Musselshell River in Musselshell, Wheatland and Golden Valley counties. The Billings Gazette reports flooding is expected in Roundup, Musselshell, Shawmut and surrounding areas...

"For our bars, our businesses, our establishments- this is their biggest paycheck of the year. It is unclear about whether or not the rodeo will be held, because the rodeo grounds got completely inundated last night."

Continuous rain in the Clark Fork basin could cause the river to rise by as much as a foot and a half to about the nine foot level by Wednesday evening.

Director of the Missoula County Office of Emergency management, Adriane Beck, sounded a hopeful note after the long Memorial Day weekend.

The federal on-scene coordinator with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emergency Response Unit, Marty McComb and one other EPA official are in Missoula to test the berms and the toxins at the former Smurfit-Stone mill site

One of the most significant effects of the Clark Fork River flooding is the danger of toxic materials stored for the last half-century in the old Smurfit settling ponds that are separated from the swollen river by only a series of earthen berms, being released into the river.