June 7, 2023|
Photo – North Platte River – Bigfoot99 file photo
The worst appears to be behind us, said National Weather Service, addressing the flood situation in Carbon County on Tuesday.
On last night’s county-wide flood coordinator call, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jared Allen said none of the county’s rivers are at flood stage.
Allen said the water levels will rise and fall a bit from mountain snowmelt, but they aren’t expected to go above action stage again. He said low lying areas will begin seeing decreased levels of standing water.
Allen said the weather forecast is nearly identical to last week’s. Afternoon rain and scattered thunderstorms are likely. Allen said the rain was not predicted to cause additional flooding. The National Weather Service meteorologist said the only area of Carbon County predicted to see flooding is the Mullen Fire burn scar.
Allen said temperatures are likely to remain steady. He said if anything, the weather should cool off in the coming days. Allen said he believes the rivers crested last week.
Allen said the mountain snowpacks are close to average for this time of year. He said years of drought may have contributed to the snowmelt being absorbed into the ground and not flowing into the county’s rivers.
Allen said forecasts show the county is unlikely to experience flooding from the mountain snowmelt. He said he couldn’t rule out flooding caused by rainstorms, but he said the chances were low.
With good news from the National Weather Service, county Emergency Manager Lenny Layman said he would host at least one more flood coordinator call this Friday. Layman said if the NWS doesn’t predict any surprises, and the rivers are cooperating, then he would begin the process of ending the flood preparations.
Layman said the towns have begun the so-called demobilization process. He said sandbags have been taken off the front lines, but are still ready to deploy in case of last-minute flooding.
Saratoga’s emergency manager Sergeant Tyler Christen said the town appeared to be out of danger. Sgt. Christen said water levels on the North Platte River was clearly lower.
During the flood coordinator call, Riverside Mayor Leroy Stephenson said Cheyenne Public Utilities was releasing water from the Hog Park Reservoir. Mayor Stephenson said in the past, the increased water flow didn’t cause additional flooding, but was likely to keep the water levels high. Layman said Mayor Stephenson and the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security agree that the reservoir release wouldn’t cause flooding.
Layman said he is confident the county has seen the worst of this season’s flooding. The Carbon County Emergency Manager said he will slowly shut down the county’s flood preparations, but he is ready to reactivate if the rivers threaten to flood again.
