The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for Benewah, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Asotin, Garfield and Whitman counties. The watch is in effect from Tuesday evening through late Wednesday night.
NWS expects moderate to heavy rainfall Wednesday night, which will cause rises in streams, creeks and rivers throughout the affected region. Minor flooding in these areas, plugged culverts and low-lying places are possible.
Paradise Creek is the primary storm drainage system for the Moscow area, Deputy City Supervisor Tyler Palmer said. Paradise Creek is also one of the most volatile creeks in the inland northwest due to its low capacity, so it is common to see localized flooding nearby.
Every other year, flooding gets high enough to affect low-lying areas, he said. Historically, that flooding has occurred in winter and been due to snow melting and ice dams, but recently flooding has been caused by only heavy rainfall.
Last year, for example, a flood on April 9 became the highest recorded flood event in Moscow. Paradise Creek crested at 11.38 feet during that flood, according to the National Weather Service. This put the area into the moderate flood stage.
Palmer said the expected flood event will be only heavy rainfall, but Paradise Creek is difficult to predict. He said the City of Moscow is gearing up for a large event based on the current forecast.
“We always have to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Palmer said. “If we get what is on the high end of the forecast currently, we would be looking at a more significant flooding event that would be beyond just the small, localized flooding.”
Moscow utilizes a flood response plan refined after every flood event. Palmer said sandbags are deployed to key locations, with plans detailed down to which vehicles take how many sandbags to which locations. The city also sets up a sandbag station free for all Moscow citizens to use to fill and take sandbags to protect their properties.
According to the City of Moscow Facebook page, sandbags are available and free to all Moscow residents at 650 North Van Buren.
The Public Works and Services department, the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department, the Community Planning and Design department, the Moscow Police Department, Parks and Recreation and others all work together to ensure a full response. The response team typically includes between two dozen people to over a few hundred people, including volunteers, when flooding escalates.
“It really is a full city response if the water gets high enough that we’re looking at a response like we had during last year’s flooding event,” Palmer said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced how the city has prepared for this flood event. Wearing masks during heavy work like filling and moving sandbags can make it difficult to breathe, which means people require more breaks, Ensuring proper distance between people, planning so people stick to the same work crews and making sure equipment is sanitized between uses adds another layer of complexity to the operation.
However, Palmer said he believes the group has enough experience and a good plan in place to deal with the upcoming weather.
Palmer said Bridge and Roosevelt Streets. are often the first places to flood, but anyone near a creek or other area that has flooded in the past should prepare. He recommends people review their properties for vulnerabilities, check any catch basins nearby and place sandbags if necessary. NWS recommends people clear drains, check culverts and monitor flood warnings.
Further information will be available on the City of Moscow website and social media pages as the situation evolves.
Lex Miller can be reached at [email protected]