Two differing viewpoints from “The Rising Part II, Carbon County News, Vol.98, No, 22, Thursday, May 31, 2018″ as pictured below:
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen!” said Brenda Kansala, Fromberg City Clerk”.
“Further up, on the north side of the new bridge, Greg LeTourneau surveys the scene with satisfaction. He feels the worst has come and as it has been since the early 1900’s, “The house is still there.” He marked the new bridge with the height of the water and pointed that it had gone down Tuesday morning, May 29, from 7.8 feet to 7 feet. He did not attend the flood update meeting either. He feels he has the matter in hand as best he can. “I dug a hole in my floor, put in a sump pump and a screen,” for the worst case. He tried planting some willows but he said the beavers come every time they bud out and it’s feeding time. He has lost a few trees and a small structure with a window to the river. He was told by locals that they used to gauge the river height by that window. So he dug into the mud and inserted a window near the river where the structure used to be so when it rises they can still gauge the height.
He’s resided there since 2008. The only time the property flooded was when a logjam forced the water onto his property from the west side away from the river. When asked whether he is concerned about loss he does not count on FEMA, nor does he trust local insurance companies. “I use Lloyd’s of London,” he said.”
For those of us who have spent most of our lives in this valley, let’s just say, we have seen this before and most of us are familiar with the ups and downs of the river . We have flooded several times in the last 50+ years. Some of those times the flooding was slight and others the river came up over its’ banks
and flooded low lying pastures , barns, cellars and even parts of peoples houses. Mother nature has her own ways, depending on snow pack, weather and debris on the river. Most of us know what to look for. If you buy a property on river or very near to it , there are chances that your property will be
flooded to some degree. The Town , County and State agencies have been preparing for that possibility for some time. Anytime you buy property in an area that if prone to flood, fire and etc. you take that chance. Yes, it is very pretty, but you have to be ready for any eventuality. Realtors should tell potential buyers about the possibilities and sometimes fail to do so.