Car clunks restaurant at pass, owners give them a ride home
Traffic slows east of Marias Pass after flood waters cross Highway 2 near The Firebrand Pass Restaurant Sunday. The front saw nearly 6 inches of rain in some places.
Rivers and small streams swelled to flood stage east of the Divide over the Memorial Day weekend.
St. Mary recorded about 2.5 inches of rain, while regions south along the Rocky Mountain Front saw about 5.8 inches.
A stream just east of Marias Pass overflowed its banks on Sunday near the Firebrand Pass Restaurant and spilled over the highway.
A car tried to stop before hitting the water and slid across the driveway and hit the side of the restaurant.
The car put a large hole in the side of the building said co-owner Kathryn Rink. They had it patched up already by Monday and expected to be open again Tuesday.
They even gave the couple that hit the restaurant a ride home. The tow truck took their car to Browning, but the couple was from Whitefish.
The couple paid for the gas, Rink said. Rink said another car hit the water going too fast and then hit the guardrail.
Rink said the problem is a culvert on the opposite side of the road is too small and causes the flooding.
The East Glacier Park fire department was doing traffic control at the scene of the water on Sunday.
Tuesday, the Department of Transportation said water was still going over the highway.
The high water also made backcountry travel a soggy affair, with foot-deep water running down trails on the east side of the Glacier Park. The Hungry Horse News observed several small streams overflowing their banks in the Belly River country, as it was on a trip there during the deluge.
Snow levels were quite high however — roughly 7,000 feet or more.
Near Augusta, flooding was also causing problems. Highway 21 was closed from town to 3 miles west due to flooding. Highway 287 was also closed south of town Augusta due to flooding.
The Sun River was also expected to flood, as the water was close to the top of the Gibson Dam and some water would have to be released to keep it from spilling over. There were also reports of flooding near Heart Butte.
Rainfall west of the divide was much lighter, with West Glacier seeing just .02 inches of rain.