H&N photo by Gary Thain Water covers a street and runs under some trailers at Bristol Mobile Home Park, 3113 Bristol Ave.

January 2, 2006

By STEVE KADEL

H&N Staff Writer

Marilyn McClintock has a good pair of boots, although they don't do her much good walking around Bristol Mobile Home Park these days.

That's because water standing on one of the park's streets is deeper than her foot-high boots. It covers speed bumps, too, and causes residents to creep along in their cars to avoid stalling.

“It's getting progressively worse,” the park manager said Sunday afternoon. “It's running under the trailers, which is what worries me.”

McClintock believes a ditch on nearby railroad property is plugged with debris, causing water from recent heavy rains to back up. She called American Sanitation Inc. to pump out the water, but one look at the situation convinced the truck driver it was futile.

“He said there was about a million gallons of water there,” McClintock said.

Her latest hope is asking railroad officials for permission to dredge the ditch with a backhoe. As of late Sunday, no real solution was in place for those living in the park at 3113 Bristol Ave.

Two tenants whose trailer sat in ankle-deep water considered themselves fortunate.

“A sheriff's deputy came out to look at it today and said ‘you guys have it good,'” said a woman who declined to give her name.

“It's not draining off,” her husband added. “We're in a low-lying area and there's no place for it to go.”

Low areas near the Sprague River were having problems Sunday as well. As of 1 p.m., the National Weather Service gauge at Beatty showed the river at 9.3 feet. Flood stage is 8.5 feet.

“What that means is those low-lying areas right next to the river may get some flooding,” said Dewaine Holster, chief of Chiloquin Agency Lake Fire District. “There are some places along the river where water is out of the banks.”

However, homeowners who have experienced flooding before built dikes prior to this winter. So far, they have prevented water from reaching any structures, Holster said.

“If one of those dikes breaks it could be a problem,” he said.

The river crested about 3 p.m. Sunday, according to weather service gauge readings at Beatty, and water had receded below flood level by evening.

Flooding of structures along the Sprague River and near the town of Sprague River, along with areas downstream, can be expected through today, according to Bill Thompson of Klamath County Emergency Services.

People living along the Sprague or Williamson rivers in the Chiloquin area should make plans to use sandbags or evacuate if necessary, he said in a press release.

Thompson urged people to be wary of utilities coming in contact with water. Citizens should report to utility companies any places where water and electrical lines are in contact, he said.

Klamath County Sheriff's Office deputies along with Klamath County Public Works and Chiloquin-Agency Lake Fire Department personnel were patrolling the Sprague and Williamson rivers Sunday.

“Deep water on roads continues to be a county-wide problem,” Thompson said.

The National Weather Service forecast for Klamath Falls called for snow showers Monday and again Tuesday night.