A 30-year-old record regarding snowpack in Wyoming was exceeded this year, causing concern for floods and prompting the University of Wyoming to recommend safety measures to students.

The Laramie River streams across this pedestrian walk path located by Snowy Range road. The path is currently closed for safety reasons. ( Photo: DJ Bowman)

Mark Collins, associate vice president of operations, said the university received a list of flood preparations from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department. Collins said the list was what the university recommended to students who may live off-campus. “The main campus is not in a flood danger zone,” he said.

Because the campus is not in an area where flooding is likely, Collins said the university was not concerned for the safety of the campus. Rather, the students should each be conscious themselves, Collins said. The safety measures recommended by the sheriff’s department and UW included keeping up with the latest weather reports and monitoring flood areas.

Preparation has been on the minds of more than just UW, however. In a May 11 news conference, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security Public Information Officer Kelly Ruiz suggested that residents prepare themselves for emergency evacuation by having a three-day supply of clothing, food and water, as well as having a first aid kit prepared. “That is the level of personal preparedness we ask for,” Ruiz said.

Snow at higher altitudes may melt very quickly if temperatures remain high, causing flooding downstream. While Laramie County is more prone to flash floods, Ruiz said, other parts of the state must prepare for heavy floods, including Carbon, Uinta, Albany, Natrona, Platte and Fremont counties. Ruiz said all those counties, except Fremont, accepted help offered by the Homeland Security Office, which includes sandbags and HESKO barriers to help stem the flow of floodwaters.

Ruiz said more than 1 million sandbags have already been deployed, some of which were made by prisoners at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. The HESKO barriers, large temporary walls made of wire grids and blocks filled with sand, have been used to block off elements of county infrastructure, Ruiz said. Some of the areas blocked off by HESKO barriers include power stations, water lift stations and communication towers, she said.

Water sanitation is being closely watched by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ruiz said, to prevent any contamination by floodwaters to city and county water supplies.

Ruiz also said more sandbags have been stationed at the center of the state near Casper to facilitate faster deployment to any part of the state.

While statewide preparations have been put into action, UW has also been monitoring flood conditions. Collins said some outlying UW facilities might be in danger of flooding, including property near Centennial and the state veterinary lab on Snowy Range Road.

At the May 11 news conference, Ruiz said imminent danger tends to bring volunteers out of the woodwork. “A sense of community often comes out when a disaster happens,” she said. “Each county has a different number of volunteers at the ready, with some counties having many and some having very few,” she added.

Volunteers have been asked not to self-deploy to dangerous areas, but rather to contact the county emergency manager to find out where and when volunteers can be the most help. “Volunteers are really our second responders,” Ruiz said. The first-responders would be emergency personnel such as firefighters and emergency medical specialists.

While Wyoming has been actively preparing for floods, a lesson learned from flooding last year, Ruiz said, other nearby states have also been faced with this threat. Ruiz said Wyoming is working closely with Utah and Nebraska to prepare for any flooding that may occur.

Contrary to popular belief, Ruiz said, droughts do not work as a protection against flooding, but rather make the danger of flooding even higher. “A drought dries out the ground,” Ruiz said. “When the ground gets hard, it cannot absorb the rain.” She said the hard ground makes the rain run off very easily, placing homes, businesses and lives in danger of flooding.

Ruiz said the threat of flooding will probably not lift until the end of June.

In the meantime, some measures have already been put into place to divert water in towns. Ruiz said greenways, walking and biking paths, around Wyoming were put in place to act as flood mitigation by allowing floodwaters to flow where lives and property are not in danger.

Ruiz said dams in Wyoming are under surveillance and are being periodically drained to be sure no dam is overloaded and burst. Dams in Nebraska are also being drained slightly to prepare for water coming down from Wyoming.

Ruiz said agriculture in Wyoming could be damaged by floodwaters and if there is enough damage, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture could declare a state of agricultural emergency.

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