11 A.M. DEC. 12: The day after heavy rains caused flooding that washed out bridges and roads in northwest Montana’s Libby, the roughly 2,700-person town is expecting light rain on Saturday before another big push of Pacific moisture on Monday and Tuesday next week, according to the National Weath er Service.  Libby was hit on Thursday with warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” that led Gov. Greg Gianfort to declare a state of emergency. A shelter was opened for residents who had to evacuate and the city water supply is under a boil order. The arrival of a cold front on Wednesday should reduce flooding by freezing water. An atmospheric river coming off the Pacific Northwest coupled with warmer temperatures contributed to high water levels at an unusual time of year, according to Trent Parker, a Missoula-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It’s just kind of been the recipe for disaster,” Parker said Friday. Parker said he was surprised by the two rain events in close succession so far inland. “Usually we’re concerned about flooding with thunderstorms and heavy rain during the warmer months, but it’s just an unusual warm and wet event,” Parker said. Libby and Troy have received about 1.5 inches of rain in the last 72 hours, according to the weather service in Missoula. Nearby mountaintops have received about 2 inches.  “It’s not only what’s falling directly on the town of Libby, but it’s all those streams and creeks that are flowing into the Libby area from the mountain locations,” Parker said. It’s unclear the extent to which Libby’s long history of contamination, a byproduct of the vermiculite mining, shipping and packing industries, threatens to seep into floodwater.  In the early 2000s, baseball fields, the rail yard and household gardens were found to be heavily contaminated with asbestos from industrial operations tied to vermiculite mining. Local and federal health officials have said that asbestos-related diseases and cancers arising from those operations have killed hundreds of current and former residents and sickened thousands more. Litigation against BNSF Railway, a company involved in transporting material out of Libby, is ongoing.   Mara Silvers contributed to this reporting. This story will be updated. Images from Scott Shindledecker of The Western News, Craig Davidson of the Kootenai Valley Record, and Nathan Cernick show the devastation from the floods that hit northwestern Montana as Libby residents work together to sandbag the town. The post After heavy rains flood Libby and wash out bridges and roads, more moisture is on the way appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less