1964 Flood high-water mark ceremony
<p>Rebuilding the Belton Bridge to provide access to Glacier National Park on June 22, 1964. The main bridge further downstream was totally wiped out. Mel Ruder photo</p>
The National Weather Service in Missoula and the U.S. Geological Survey will conduct a ceremony in remembrance of the 1964 Flood at the Teakettle Fishing Access Site in Columbia Falls on Thursday, June 5, at 1 p.m.
A high water mark sign along the Flathead River will be unveiled. Personnel from Flathead County Office of Emergency Services, Flathead Conservation District, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the city of Columbia Falls also will be in attendance.
The 1964 Flood occurred after rain began falling in the mountains along the Continental Divide on June 7, 1964. Over the next day and a half, some of the mountain locations received 10 to 14 inches of rain.
The largest flood in the last 100 years hit the Flathead Valley two days after the rains began, on June 9, inundating much of the valley, destroying roads, bridges, railroad tracks, buildings and homes. The flood waters went away as quickly as they came, leaving a lot of cleanup and repairs work behind.