Palouse residents prepare as nearby park begins to flood

NewImage

Via the Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Parts of Whitman County were expecting significant flooding Tuesday, but by early morning a revised forecast from the National Weather Service was predicting the worst of the flooding would occur today.

The flood warning was issued for rivers and lakes in Idaho and Washington, including the Palouse River near Potlatch, until late Thursday night.

Garfield Police Officer Joe Handley pulled up to an abandoned Palouse Lions Club Park on Tuesday afternoon where the Palouse River had begun to engulf the area, partly submerging tables, chairs and a windmill.

Checking flood stakes in the area around 2 p.m., Handley said water levels in the park were at about 14 feet, not affecting anything yet. The flood stage is technically 15 feet.

Handley said that level of flooding is not dangerous since water collects in the park, and he had not received any reports of flooding in individual homes or buildings so far.

Major flooding, however, remains in the NWS forecast. Palouse River was expected to rise above the 15-foot level Tuesday afternoon and to continue rising through the night and today until cresting at just more than 19 feet tonight.

According to the NWS, at 16.5 feet, water will be up to the back door of the city shop in Palouse.