Portneuf River continues to rise

The Portneuf River in Pocatello continues to rise.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Portneuf on Wednesday and it is still in effect Friday.

The NWS said right now, the river is 7.5 feet deep. Flood stage happens at around 8 feet. But the Portneuf is expected to reach a little more than 9 feet by Saturday morning.

Hitting flood stage means very deep water and it will likely top the banks in most areas. However, the NWS said it does not expect any major flooding or huge overflow because of it. Dan Valle, lead forecaster for the NWS, said the areas he expects to be most affected are lowland areas, like pastures.

There are a few homes that lie right next to the river that the weather service is also concerned about. Valle said those who do live near the river should put sandbags around their property to try and control the flood water.

Valle said down the road it could see some bigger problems from the rising river.

“I don’t think we’re going to see a major flood in the near-term future on the Portneuf River,” Valle said. “Now, the bigger concern is probably as we head later into the spring, there is a lot of snow up high that’s got to come down. It’s going to be dependent on how that comes off.”

Valle said it only takes six inches of water to sweep a car off the road. So he has a reminder for people as flooding continues.

“The big thing I really want to hammer home is if you see flood water, turn around, don’t drown,” Valle said.

The average depth of the river this time of year is about three to four feet. The last time the river reached flood stage was in 2011.