Portion of South First Street remains closed

WORLAND - Three blocks of South First Street, south of Culbertson remain closed in Worland.

Worland Public Works Director Brian Burky said the portion of the street remains closed to traffic due to a sand barrier that runs down the street for protection from flooding. He said at the present time there is no date for removing the closure.

All other streets in the city are open and all residents have been allowed to return to their homes.

For public safety, Burky said Riverside Rotary Park north of the Big Horn Avenue Bridge and the boat ramp between to the two river bridges are closed. There is no date set to when they will be open, he said.

"They are posted as no trespassing," because there are still large chunks of ice in both areas and the ice is getting soft and is dangerous.

As for other city issues during the ice jam flooding over the weekend, Burky said they were watching the city's sewer lagoon, located 2.5 miles north of the main river bridge. Normal inflow into sewer lagoon is about 1 million gallons and at one point there was about 2 million gallons a day coming in. Burky said the lagoon handled the additional inflow just fine and operations are back to normal.

"It appears that the ice that broke free cleared the lagoon. We were watching it carefully," he said.

As for the the riverside sewer system lift station at Rotary Park, Burky said no ice hit the station and the water that did hit it did not cause any damage. The station is currently protect by cement barriers and sandbags.

In other Worland flood-related news, the Incident Command Post daily press release said crews on Wednesday continue to pump water out of affected areas in Worland.

Motorists are reminded to use caution at low water crossings. These crossings are dangerous, as water levels are quite high and will likely continue to rise as snowmelt increases. Heed road closure signs and never drive through flood waters, according to the release.

A flood advisory from the National Weather Service is still issued for the Big Horn River between Worland and Greybull.

Sandbags are available free of charge at the Washakie County Fairgrounds for residents needing to protect their homes from flooding or problems caused by snow melt.

Washakie County officials would like to thank the community for their support during this event. Hundreds of volunteers poured in to fill and place sandbags, provide food and supplies for responders and volunteers, and offer assistance in many other ways, according to a release from the Incident Command Post.