Early Friday flooding in Pinewood Village brings out the best in people
By JOHN BLODGETT
The Western News
For residents in and around Pinewood Village in Libby, Black Friday began as Brown Friday as rain-swollen Libby Creek flooded the area, affecting about nine homes in one resident’s estimation.
That resident, Barbara Wilburn, was awoken 1:47 a.m. Friday by a neighbor, Shannon Myslicki, “who called us saying the other neighbor had a broken pipe.”
“But when my husband (Bob) went out in the dark with the flashlight, he realized there was way too much deep water,” Wilburn said in a Facebook message. “That is when he called 911.”
Wilburn said authorities “responded right away” with a backhoe and sandbags “to free up water from damaging the homes here.” Their efforts appeared to have worked, for she reported no damage to her home on Pinewood Lane.
Myslicki also reported no damage. “(The) front yard and driveway were full of water,” she wrote Sunday in a Facebook message. “But it did not reach the house.”
Not knowing “all the facts,” Myslicki said she was “under the impression there was debris in the creek farther up and it caused the creek to take the path of least resistance and it flooded into a field and then down into our neighborhood.”
Myslicki and Wilburn both praised the fast response of Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Road Department and Emergency Management Agency.
“Neighbors were out at 2 a.m. bagging sand, making coffee, helping the road crew find culverts and supporting each other,” Myslicki wrote.
Wilburn posted her appreciation to Facebook Friday night: “(I) would like to thank Brent Teske, Jim Williams, Marc McCully, Dave Sichting, Craig Schultz and all the neighbors and friends who helped all of us during our flood this early morning. (It is) greatly appreciated! Bless all of you!!”
Early Saturday morning Wilburn reported to concerned Facebook friends and neighbors that “all is good now” that the high water had receded.
On Sunday, she and her husband surveyed the aftermath by taking a walk to the creek near their home and noting that “lots of log jams have formed there since the flood.”