Inkom community comes together to mitigate flooding

INKOM — A small east Idaho community is working together to prevent rising flood waters from damaging houses and local businesses.

The flooding in Inkom started Sunday due to the melting snowpack. It got significantly worse Monday and is expected to be significant on Tuesday night as well. On Sunday and Monday, members of the community set up sandbags along the bank of Rapid Creek to direct the river’s flow and keep the water out of the nearby businesses.

Throughout Tuesday, community members were fortifying these defenses and building a new dam along the bridge leading into Inkom, in anticipation of the river flowing over it.

The Red Pony is a bar next to the bridge and the bank of the river, and there are sandbags all along the back of the property to direct flowing waters. Gary Gregston, the owner of the Red Pony for 22 years, called the flooding “overwhelming.”

“It’s been a mess,” Gregston said. “There’s just not much you can say about it.”

During the flooding earlier in the week, Gregston’s property was filled with water. He pumped the water out, and on Tuesday the green grass was mixed with slippery muddy patches.

Bishara Bisharat, manager of Bisharat Market, said Inkom has a great community that has come together to help each other through the flooding.

The sandbags holding back the flood waters came from businesses in the area, and many have been donated by Bannock County and other members of the community. Volunteers have been busy filling and placing the bags.

Bisharat Market has given volunteers sandwiches and drinks, and the Red Pony has also been providing people with drinks as they worked.

“We’ve had a great amount of city and community involvement,” Bisharat said. “They’ve helped out putting out new sandbags in the muck of it.”

Jolene Davies is a resident of McCammon who spends a great amount of time in Inkom, and she was volunteering her time to help fortify the sandbags on Tuesday.

Davies said she shops at Bisharat Market and the Red Pony is the closest bar to where she lives, but that’s not the main reason why she came to assist with flood mitigation.

“It’s more about the community, they need the help,” Davies said.

Inkom Mayor Max Shaffer was there with the community along with city maintenance to fill and place sandbags along with the community volunteers.

He said the city is full of, “very hard-working people coming together. They work hard and help each other and they get stuff done.”

National Weather Service Meteorologist Jack Messick said the amount of time it takes for south Bannock County to get through flooding from the snowpack depends on how forecasted rain affects the snowpack.

“(The rain) could make it drain off rather quickly and maybe in 10 days’ time we’ll be over this for the most part, but if we don’t get a lot of rain this weekend it might preserve the snowpack and extend the problems out,” Messick said. “It’s all based on how these rivers respond to the snow melt and how much more rain we get.”

Significant parts of east Idaho are experiencing flooding this week, especially at low elevations close to rivers. Messick said the Portneuf River has reached moderate flood stage, which it hasn’t done in 35 years.

People in Inkom expect to have to deal with further flooding throughout at least the rest of the week, and Messick agreed.

Despite the hardships brought by the flooding, Gregston still feels confident about the future.

“It’s been an ordeal, but just like several times before, we’re going to survive,” Gregston said