Page 8A
BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Montana floodwaters near
highest level in 100 years
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP)
— Montana rescuers pulled
a man from raging floodwa-
ters and authorities warned
of dangerous debris being
swept downstream as water
levels continued rising Fri-
day in rivers and streams
across the western half of the
state.
The Clark Fork River in
Missoula was expected to
crest more than a foot (30
centimeters) above major
flood stage late Saturday —
its highest level in 100 years.
It could rise even higher next
week, according to National
Weather Service forecast-
ers. Heavy rains in recent
days compounded 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 resi-
dents and emergency person-
nel 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, authori-
ties 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 Clark 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 morn-
ing, Holtz said. Occupants of
Max Bryan/The Southwest Times Record via AP
Emergency vehicles block a street in downtown
Talihina, Okla., Friday after a large fire began when
search warrants were being served in the small
Oklahoma town.
Four troopers hurt,
suspect dead in
Oklahoma shootout
Kurt Wilson /The Missoulian via AP
Missoula City Fire Department firefighters pull a homeless man to safety Thursday
in Missoula, Montana, near the island under the Reserve Street Bridge after he was
unable to reach his camp on the island. The man apparently bought a rubber raft ear-
lier in evening and tried to ferry the flooding Clark Fork River but was pushed too far
down river. The river is expected to reach 100-year flood stage in the next few days.
about 800 Missoula houses
were under warning that they
may have to evacuate if con-
ditions deteriorate.
Water also was push-
ing into residential areas
downstream along the Clark
Fork in the town of French-
town, where occupants of
two houses were ordered to
evacuate.
River levels are fore-
cast to drop slightly with
the arrival of cooler weather
early next week, then spike
to even higher levels by
week’s end, said meteorolo-
gist Ryan Leach.
“We’re very confident
it’s going to be above major
flood stage for at least the
next week,” Leach said.
Personnel from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
were inspecting area levees
but they were not expected to
be topped, Holtz said.
Among the sites being
monitored was Smurfit-Stone
Mill, a former wood pulp
mill along the Clark Fork
northwest of Missoula where
open ponds were used to
store contaminated wastewa-
ter. The site is on the federal
Superfund list of the nation’s
most hazardous sites. Local
officials were concerned the
river could erode the uncerti-
fied levees that shield the site
TALIHINA, Okla. (AP)
— Four Oklahoma troop-
ers were struck by gunfire
or shrapnel while serving
a warrant early Friday at a
man’s home that may have
been booby-trapped to spark
a large fire, authorities said.
The blaze consumed sev-
eral buildings in downtown
Talihina, a town of about
1,100 people that’s about
150 miles southeast of Okla-
homa City.
The suspect was shot and
has been pronounced dead,
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
Capt. Paul Timmons said.
He was not immediately
identified, and a body had
not been recovered.
Timmons said the four
injured troopers were treated
and released from a local
hospital and are expected to
recover.
Local authorities had
requested help from state
troopers to execute a drug-re-
lated warrant because the
man had a “violent criminal
history,” Timmons said.
“As soon as they made
entry, they were met by gun-
fire,” Timmons said.
He said authorities are
“fairly certain” the man had
surveillance cameras set up.
A fifth trooper who was
wearing a protective vest
was also struck in the chest
area by gunfire, but escaped
any injury because of the
vest, Timmons said.
Kurt Wilson /The Missoulian via AP
Floodwater from the Clark Fork River flows over the road
and through a fence line, Thursday at the Kelly Island
Fishing Access off Mullan Road west of Missoula. The
Clark Fork River was measured at 12.8 feet Thursday and
is expected to crest at 13.5 feet in the next few days.
from the river, Holtz said.
Elsewhere in the state
floodwaters
threatened
homes along the Blackfoot
River near Lincoln and por-
tions of Lewis and Clark, Jef-
ferson and Broadwater coun-
ties. Minor flooding was
reported along the Flathead
River at Columbia Falls.
A dam on an irrigation
pond in Meagher County
breached, causing a rapid
rise in water levels on Six-
teenmile Creek as it enters
Gallatin County. The area
downstream of the breach is
sparsely populated and local
officials said there was no
immediate threat to public
safety.
In central Montana, the
Musselshell River near the
small town of Shawmut in
Wheatland County was fore-
cast to reach major flood
stage Saturday. The county
sheriff’s office advised peo-
ple not to drive through
flooded areas.
Rain was in the fore-
cast with showers possible
through the weekend across
much of the state.
Gov. Fallin
vetoes gun bill
OKLAHOMA
CITY (AP) — Oklaho-
ma’s Republican Gov.
Mary Fallin vetoed
a bill late Friday that
would have authorized
adults to carry firearms
without a permit or
training, dealing a rare
defeat to the National
Rifle Association in a
conservative state.
The veto comes
after opposition from
the business commu-
nity and law enforce-
ment
authorities,
including top officials
with the Oklahoma
State Bureau of Inves-
tigation who have said
it could erode public
safety.
The NRA had sup-
ported the bill’s pas-
sage and had urged
Fallin to sign it.
In
a
statement
announcing her veto,
Fallin stressed her sup-
port for the Second
Amendment and the
right to bear arms and
noted she had signed
concealed and open
carry measures in the
past.
McCain still sparks a lively debate
cial’s cruel joke that his positions
don’t matter because “he’s dying
anyway.”
WASHINGTON — John McCain
If this is Washington’s long
is not signing off quietly.
goodbye to a sometimes favor-
As in so much of the senator’s
ite son, it’s also a reemergence
extraordinary life, the rebellious
of old resentments and political
Republican is facing this challenging
fault lines that continue to split
chapter — battling brain cancer — in
the nation.
his own rule-breaking way, stirring
Perhaps no one should have
up old fights and starting new ones. McCain
expected anything less from the
Rarely has the sickbed been so lively.
81-year-old senator, who can be
McCain is promoting a new book, deliver- crotchety and cantankerous but is also seen
ing a counterpunch of ideals contrary to Pres- by many, both in and out of politics, as an
ident Donald Trump’s running of the White American hero, flaws and all.
House. McCain’s long-distance rejection of
Former Vice President Joe Biden said
CIA director nominee Gina Haspel’s history Friday as McCain “fights for his life, he
with torture goaded former Vice President deserves better — so much better.”
Dick Cheney into a fresh debate over water-
“Our children learn from our exam-
boarding and other now-banned interroga- ple,” Biden said. “The lingering question is:
tion techniques. On Friday, friends rallied to Whose example will it be? I am certain it will
defend McCain against a White House offi- be John’s.”
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AP Congressional Correspondent
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