GREAT FALLS — A state of emergency was declared on Friday in the town of Choteau.
Chris Hindoien, the mayor, said on Friday afternoon that after consulting with several governmental agencies, they decided to declare a "State of Emergency" within the city limits of Choteau.
Hindoien said: "This was not an easy decision, yet one that was necessary to facilitate access to County, State and Federal resources. The map shows the area in town where our wastewater system is surcharged. We are asking all citizens in that area of town to limit their use of laundry, dishes, baths and toilets."
Late Friday night, Hindoien provided this update on the town's Facebook page:
- The water seems to be slowed down moving to the east of Spring Creek as the majority of the closed streets are showing no “Cold Smoke” indicating no water movement.
- Water is creeping out to the west. The area between Front Range Supply and Breen Warehouse is showing more water and the “Cold Smoke” is rising off the flowing water. That water is returning to Spring Creek and not crossing 1st NE.
- The culverts under the 1st St NE bridge are flowing on the upstream side of the bridge. Water is flowing better than earlier tonight but there is anchor ice visible on the creek bottom on the east culvert upstream side.
- The sewer lines East of Spring Creek remain surcharged so we continue to request your diligence in water usage on the NE side of town. We apologize for the inconvenience, but hope we are on the downhill side of things towards a warming trend.
- Please know that while this is a “Long Weekend” for many, we will have our crews working as needed. That is one of the benefits of the Emergency Declaration. It will allow us to be pro-active during the next 96 hours.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 17: State of emergency declared in Choteau
