Flooding Avoided This Year

Just over a year ago, Greybull and Worland residents were braced for flooding. This year, the river is clear.
That’s thanks to better weather and the removal of a sandbar in the Greybull river in Worland, which allowed the ice to melt more quickly and the river to move more freely.
Rodney Ross, Emergency Manager in Greybull, says that the oxbow that was built into the river near the defunct refinery has been a concern in past years, but because the weather cooperated this winter, there wasn’t enough ice built up to cause the river to jam like it did last year.

Last year, Ross says their community was filling sandbags and bracing for flooding, because as the thick ice melted during a warm spell in February, the ice and water level rose to where it came within two feet of the top of the dyke. But because of last year’s experience, Ross says that they have made preparations for the future.

Ross says that there is still a chance for flooding in low areas such as Dry Creek, if there is excessive runoff in the event of an unusually warm spring, but he says the community is prepared to perform sandbag operations if that occurs.