New Releases For Fort Peck Dam Scheduled Today

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will release massive amounts of water from the Fort Peck dam Tuesday.

The Corps originally planned to release a record 50,000 cubic feet per second of water from the dam mid-June. The increased water flow into the Missouri River is already causing flooding in residential areas downstream.

More water is expected to cause flooding in low-lying areas downstream on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and in the Dakotas.

Heavy thunderstorms are expected to compound flooding problems across Montana this week by adding sizable amounts of water to already high rivers and saturated soil.

The National Weather Service says a strong storm system could bring up to 2 inches of rain across the state and 2-inch hail in eastern and central Montana.

Story from The Associated Press