Musselshell River

More than 300 people now have a way out of a central Montana neighborhood cut off since last week after floodwaters washed out several roads in rural Musselshell County.

Muddy conditions are frustrating attempts to complete road repairs in central Montana that would give about 300 stranded residents a way out of their rural neighborhood.

Work crews in central Montana on Sunday began repairing two washouts of a backcountry road as part of a plan to get to another washout on a larger road that has for a week cut off more than 300 people in a rural area near the town of Roundup.

The National Weather Service says Montana's swollen rivers could begin hitting flood stage Wednesday, one day after severe storms hit the state. The storms dumped up to 4 inches of rain in some areas and golf ball-sized hailstones on Tuesday.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he won't call up the Montana National Guard to fill sandbags and do other chores that local communities should be able to do on their own. And he says he doesn't want to keep 98 soldiers on duty guarding closed or dangerous roads for much longer.

Flooding is disrupting emergency phone service across a broad swath of eastern Montana as some areas remain inundated with several feet of water. Heavy rains again pounded parts of the state on Memorial Day.