Zortman gets heavy rain, flooding follows

The first day of Summer 2019 was not sunshine filled in Phillips County, and perhaps it was the least summer-like in Zortman where 7.5 inches of rain fell in 29-hours leading to flooding in parts of the town.

Wendy Simanton — moderator of Facebook’s "The Little Rockies - Zortman, Landusky and more" — shared videos from her husband Steve, who lives in Zortman, and Malta’s Ray Harms showing flooding in the area.

On Saturday, June 22, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office announced that water was rushing over the Dump Road in Zortman and had, at that point, received 6.3 inches of rain, asking people to avoid both the Zortman and Landusky areas as more reports of flooding were expected.

“I was out there on Friday planting my root-garden, so I am now getting my information secondhand,” Wendy said. “The National Weather Service said that the area received a quarter of an inch of rain over those 29 hours.”

Wendy said that Alder Gulch was flooding down behind the Buckhorn Store in Zortman and the Dump Road was completely annihilated. One of the biggest days of the year in Zortman takes place on Independence Day (Thursday, July 4) two years after the “July Fire” burned over 10,000 acres in the area.

“This rain should be good for Zortman because it will eliminate a lot of the fire danger and cut some of the hazards down,” she said.

Wendy said that no one was displaced by the 2019 summer flooding and the only access she thinks will be hindered in the area are some camping sites the Buck Horn owns and the Dump Road, adding that Steve saw Camp Creek running heavy over the weekend which she hasn't seen since 1986 and then again in the early-1990s. There was also hail in Zortman on Friday.

The Zortman Fourth of July celebration gets underway with the parade at 11 a.m. on July 4th (see the advertisement on page 4A of this weeks’ PCN.)