SHERIDAN, WY— Flash flooding may be a serious possibility in Sheridan County this afternoon.
The Sheridan County Commissioners, along with Sheridan county emergency management, issued an emergency declaration yesterday afternoon in response to the flash flood watch that was issued by the National Weather Service in Billings.
A release from the Office of the County Commissioners stated, “this is a watch and not a warning, and this declaration is precautionary; there is no imminent threat. However, as everyone is aware from the recent flood event, streams and tributaries in the county continue to remain out of their banks or continue to run full, and the ground is completely saturated.”
“The emergency declaration sets in motion State assistance from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. Additional loads of sand and sandbags are being deployed to Sheridan and will start arriving tonight and tomorrow morning. Further State assets are available to the county, as circumstances dictate.”
According to the State Engineer’s Office in Sheridan, stream gauges across Sheridan County measured up to 4″ of rain from last Sunday through Tuesday, with a significant amount of precipitation occurring in the Sheridan foothills.
The State Engineer’s Office also mentioned that the recent flooding events were in no way due to releases from Park Reservoir or any other mountain reservoir.
The flash flood watch for Sheridan County will go into effect from Noon today until Midnight tonight. The National Weather Service warns that flooding may be possible near any slow-moving thunderstorms, which are expected to occur this afternoon and tonight.
