Flooding in Idaho, May 1 to 31, 2017

The Portneuf River remained above flood stage for most of the month of May with much of the flooding occurring in the Inkom area. The Sacajawea Park in Pocatello remained flooded as well for much of the month. Fields in Inkom encountered agricultural damage with many roads and bridges in that area damaged and needing repaired. The continued ponding of water in the Inkom area required west Nile mosquito control.

Minor flooding continued in Bingham County in May but the worst was over. Some fields remained covered in water early in the month causing some agricultural damage with levee repair work done.

Rain on top of continued snow melt pushed the Big Wood River to flood stage and eventually reaching moderate and major flood stage at Hailey. The entire Big Wood River Valley encountered major flooding with as many as 5,000 evacuations from Bellevue to Hailey to Ketchum and Sun Valley by May 6th. Many people went without electricity in the valley today with water pumps also running continually with major flood damage in basement homes. One home in north Ketchum on Empire Creek Road suffered a death on May 10th when a man died in a basement trying to assist with pumps to remove over 6 feet of water from the basement. The evacuation order reached 24 homes in Blaine County along the Big Wood River by mid month. Costs of flood damage reached 10 million dollars in the county. Levee repair costs were included and damage included agriculture, homes, businesses, roads, bridges resorts, government infrastructure and preserves. Sand bagging was continual by volunteers throughout the month as well. the flooding caused extensive power pole damage. The Big Wood River spent the entire month exceeding and receding from flood stage in Blaine County with the worst flooding during the first two weeks of the month.

Minor flooding continued in May with some damage to agricultural due to field flooding and recreation facilities. Levee repair was conducted to mitigate flooding problems.

Field flooding damaging agriculture and the flooding continued to damage back roads with some minor basement flooding continued through the month.

The Salmon River in Salmon reached moderate flood stage in May and this caused flooding from the headwaters of the Salmon south through Challis into Custer County. Trail Creek, Valley Creek, Garden Creek and Antelope Creek all overflowed banks with flood warnings throughout the month continuing in Custer County. Major damage occurred to backcountry roads and campgrounds. Significant agriculture damage occurred due to flooded fields. Road and bridge damage required significant repair along with significant USFS infrastructure damage. The cost of damage and flood protection rose above 3 million dollars for the month.

Minor flooding continued throughout May with field flooding causing agricultural damage along with money needed for levee repair and recreation facilities.

Minor flooding continued through May in Madison County requiring road repairs with field flooding damaging agricultural crops and money required for levee repairs.

Minor flooding occurred in May with snow melt being the main contributor to the flooding. Field flooding caused agricultural damage and many roads and recreational facilities received damage.

The Bear River near the Wyoming border remained at flood stage for much of the month and minor field flooding mainly continued through May. Reports of some basement flooding in the county along with road and bridge damage continued.