When I was growing up, our family spent our summers right next to the Boulder River. Just a couple of miles from our house in town a place that at one time had been a city park and later a small tourist cabin court had fallen into disrepair. Our parents bought it on the Sheriff’s auction for back taxes and over the years fixed up the cabins and eventually built a new cabin and a shop building on the property. I remember looking forward to the end of the school year so we could “move” to the cabins. Life there was a bit more primitive, with meals over the campfire at first and, until we built new bathrooms less than perfect shower facilities. But the river was so wonderful! In the spring when high water came, you could hear the rocks crashing against each other as the water rearranged them. The music of high water in a mountain stream is one of the theme songs of my life.

The exact timing of high water varied quite a bit. It depended upon how much snow fell over the winter, how warm it got in the high country, and whether or not spring rains augmented the river flow. Several years the combination was enough that the river exceeded its banks and we’d have mud puddles in the yard. The buildings were mostly high enough to avoid any flood problems, but occasionally a little water would seep into a couple of out buildings that were close to the river.

This year, however, the high water has come to Montana rivers and streams in a way that none of us can remember ever happening before. To start things off, the spring had been cooler than normal and on Memorial Day weekend storms dumped feet of fresh snow in the high country while it rained down below. This was on top of a more fixed base of snow that had been accumulating all winter. The fresh snow on top resulted in more avalanches than normal, taking down trees and clearing steep pathways for future runoff. In the last couple of weeks temperatures began rising. It was not only warm down in the valleys, but it got hot in the high country as well. The rate of snow melt accelerated. To top it all off, there was a lot of rain last weekend, with records in some places.

Rivers and creeks all across south central Montana are overflowing. The river than runs by our family place has flooded many low lying areas and higher up the valley has blocked roads and threatened bridges. The road to the high country, where our Church Camp is located, has been closed. The river is running brown with dirt and rough with debris. Huge trees are washed down, become lodged along the banks and create eddies and white water currents. Our family place has a bit of water in the yard, but nothing threatening. It is on the inside of a bend of the river. Across the river, the banks are being washed away and trees are falling into the water.

Because of the closed road news is slow to travel from higher up the river. There are a few cabins that could be threatened by the high water.

It isn’t just our drainage. Rock Creek has flooded the town of Red Lodge. It filled up its normal river bed and washed out at least two bridges. The water was diverted right onto Broadway street and from there flowed down other streets. Susan’s sister’s home became riverfront property, with water rising over the front steps of the house and flooding the basement. The city water system was overwhelmed and had to be shut down. Electricity to the town was taken out. Evacuations were begun.

The Stillwater is also in high flood stage. The Gallatin and Yellowstone, flowing out of Yellowstone National Park are raging. And the Yellowstone is short of cresting downstream as the other rivers I’ve been mentioning all flow into it. All entrances to Yellowstone National Park have been closed. Mudslides are taking out roads and bridges. Evacuation of the entire park is underway. Gardiner, the town at the northwest corner of the park, is completely cut off will all roads going in and out of the town washed out by flooding. Repairing the road south of town into the Park will take months as entire sections are washed away. North of town the river is over the road and travel is impossible. The extend of the damage is not yet known because sections of highway are still under water.

The Montana National Guard has sent in helicopters to help. Evacuation centers have been established.

Paradise Valley south of Livingston is flooded with many farm homes and buildings filling with muddy water. Park and Sweetgrass County officials have not yet completed the official survey of roads and bridges.

A year ago, those of us who came from the region and who have family and friends in that part of Montana, were all on edge because of the fires that were raging in the area. The flames of wildfire could easily be seen from the town of Red Lodge as the tinder-dry forest was ignited. Those fires have contributed to the severity of the flooding this year as steep areas without trees are prone to mudslides and washing down into the rivers creating blockages and additional debris that is washed downstream.

We’ve hear from our family and most of our friends in the area. Everyone is safe. Our Red Lodge family has a lot of mess to clean up. The water in the basement has likely destroyed their furnace, a refrigerator is floating with the door side down, making it impossible to get at the food inside. Some school papers and art supplies that were stored there are now ruined. But a mess is preferable to a tragedy. They have water and the main floors of the house are dry. They may need to stay with friends for a while until services can be restored and repairs are made to their home.

We now live a long ways from Montana, but a bit of Montana goes with us wherever we travel and wherever we live. We watch with bated breath and we wonder at the power of nature. And even though the stories aren’t ours, we have collected a few more to tell. The folks who live there will speak of the floods of 2022 for the rest of their lives.