CROUCH, Idaho — The Middle Fork of the Payette River hit flood stage on Tuesday, it has since come down but the National Weather Service has a flood advisory in place until Sunday.
Thunderstorms could make the river rise even higher, but as our Scott Dorval pointed out, that could all change in either direction depending on the weather.
Residents in Garden Valley weren't concerned with the rising river as water flooded the park in Crouch, but the river dropped from 11.8 feet (flood stage) down to 10.35 on Wednesday.
"Everybody I’ve been checking with is doing fine," said the new Garden Valley Fire Chief Paul Cleveland. "We are not going to have a problem with any households getting flooded, we are just keeping an eye on it and staying on top of it."
The Middle Fork of the Payette is a popular place to float in the summer, but with the river running high, fast and cold now is not a good time to be near the river.
"If you get knocked off balance or too close to the water it will sweep you off your feet," said Cleveland. "It is moving a lot faster than people realize."
The Middle Fork flows into the South Fork of the Payette River, which is running higher than I've ever seen it. Only expert paddlers should be out on the water right now in these dangerous conditions.
The raft companies will continue taking people down the Main and the Cabarton, but they have suspended operations on the South Fork.
The Garden Valley Fire Department is fully staffed and trained, but they want to alert people visiting that safety has to be a priority because they have a lot of ground to cover in Boise County when responding to an emergency.
"You have to be a little self-resilient, it is going to take us a little while to get there," said Cleveland. "Safety is paramount in this area.
