#69 - Levees Protect Glasgow from Flooding

Photo by Paul Monson, courtesy of Cole’s Studio with thanks to Samar Fay of the Glasgow Courier.

This photo shows how levees protected Glasgow during a flood that occurred in April of 1952. The camera was pointed toward the southeast. Glasgow is located on the floodplain of the lower Milk River, about 15 miles northwest of where the Milk empties into the Missouri. Although flooding occurred as far west as Havre, less that a dozen people were injured and property damage was less than $7 million. As the photo shows, levees built around much of the town’s perimeter prevented it from being inundated. Levees are man-made embankments that protect towns or agricultural areas from flood damage.

Needed a solution . . .
The Glasgow area also flooded in 1899, 1906, 1912, 1917, 1923, and 1928.The city of Glasgow built the levees after the 1928 flood, and then heightened them and extended the project in 1938. During flooding in 1939 emergency responders reinforced the levee, which held back floodwaters caused by ice jams and snow melt. The city was nearly surrounded by floodwaters, but remained dry.

Weather helped out in 2004 but not 2011 . . .
During the early spring of 2004 there were concerns that the Glasgow area would have a flood similar to the 1952 event because record amounts of snow (67.7 inches) at Glasgow exceeded those of the winter of 1951-1952 by over 7 inches. Fortunately, nearly perfect temperature conditions during March caused the snow to melt slowly, allowing the area to avoid a flood similar to the one experienced in 1952. In contrast, record winter snowfall (ove 100 inches!) coupled with spring rains caused flooding in the Milk River Basin and along many rivers throughout Montana. Once again, Glasgow's levee system held.

Montana’s flood of the century . . .
The worst flood disaster in Montana’s history happened in June of 1964 along both sides of the Continental Divide in the northwestern part of the state. As much as 14 inches of rain fell in 36 hours, adding runoff to streams that were already swollen because of snowmelt. The result was 30 deaths and $55 million in damage, including the failure of two irrigations dams. One of the dams, located near Dupuyer (75 miles northwest of Great Falls) washed away, causing a flash flood that took 19 lives.

Terms: floodplain, levee, runoff

Below: A ground level view of part of Glasgow's levee system during the historic flood of 2011.