Chamois residents voice concern over flooding

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:07:59 GMT — People in Chamois were panicked about the rising Missouri river at a public meeting held Thursday night.

They met to talk with the Corps of Engineers and KRCG TMs Meghan Lane was there and spoke with residents and some are upset about how the Corps is handling the situation.

As of Wednesday the Missouri River was in flood stage in Chamois but not spilling over.

But residents fear what it will look like when more water is released from the Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota.

There's a lot of uncertainty, we really don't know how the river is going to behave," Chamois resident Mark Mehmert said.

It was standing room only at the Lions Club Community Center for Thursday night's meeting.

Many were upset with the Corps of Engineers decision to wait so long and to release so much water all at once.

I don TMt think the Corps of Engineers were paying any attention as to what was going on until the last three weeks," Chamois resident Arthur Riegel said.

Officials plan to release 150,000 cubic feet per second at Gavin TMs Point starting next week.

That much water would fill a football field 156 feet deep in just one minute.

"The upper states have wanted to keep water for quite some time for recreational purposes and have fought in court to do that and now they're letting an avalanche go, Mehmert said. Those dams were built for the purposes of flood control and that's what they should remain for as opposed to recreation."

The overall message given at the meeting was to be prepared because the town could go under like it did in 1993.

If the early predictions become a reality and the Missouri river reaches 24 to 29 feet in Chamois, Highway 100 near the power plant will be flooded.

"They TMre worried about what the future might bring, it's a time of uncertainty," Mehmert said.

Mehmert remains hopeful but only time will tell how high the river will rise.