KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, SportsFlooding Reaches $1.5 Million in Damages

Flooding Reaches $1.5 Million in Damages

One month ago the war on flooding in Wyoming began, now state and federal agencies are assessing the damages.

Director of Homeland Security Guy Cameron said, "To date five counties have been through the preliminary damage assessment."

And to date the damage is about $1.5 million for the first five counties that were assessed.

Cameron said, "I can assure you the numbers gonna go up."

 WYDOTS damage assessments is already over $2.3 million dollars, but Cameron says that damages would have been more severe if it had not been for the pro-active approach.

He said, "We still have to hang in there, I don't think this is over yet and we still have to continue to watch."

Originally 126 soldiers and airmen were sent out across the state to help with flooding efforts.

Now they are down to 15.

Major General Luke Reiner said,  "Currently we have 15 soldiers on the ground operating out of Worland supporting Washakie and Big Horn Counties."

Cameron said, "We can't predict what's going to happen all we can do is be at the right place at the right time."

But their efforts, he says made the communities threatened with flooding a safe place.

"To put it into perspective we have filled almost 160,000 sandbags, put in 22,000 thousand feet of reinforcement material, about 5,000 feet of berms and installed 7 cisterns" said Reiner.

Cameron says he believes the worst of the flooding is over, he says the only wild card left is mother nature, "now we're really starting to see those warmer temperatures really impact snow pack."

The assessments will continue for the other counties affected by high waters.

Laramie, Natrona and Campbell Counties are the three counties not being assessed.