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c. In addition to the damages prevented by Corps of Engineers projects the United States Bureau of-Reclamation reservoirs, located in the upper reaches of the basin, are credited with preventing downstream damages estimated at $11,090,000. VI. FWOD DAMAGE 24. _ DISASTER PREPARATIONS AND ACTION Flash flooding in the area along the Continental Divide, which cost the lives of 24 persons with 7 more missing and presumed dead, was so sudden that advance protective measures could not be taken. In addition to the dead and missing, 337 persons were injured. In areas below the dam failures, some residents made -attempts to rescue a portion of their belongings and were caught in the holocaust and drowned. As news broke through the storm area., measures were swiftly taken to mobilize all available forces to meet the emergency in the basin. Stations were set up at strategic locations by the Red Cross, Civil Defense, National Guard, Anrry Engineers, Office of Emergency Planning, and other units as a base for evacuation, flood-fighting and rehabilitation operations. Throlighout the period from 8 June to 3l July, the Omaha Engineer District of the Corps of Engineers par- ticipated in various flood operations and rehabilitation duties in the area with a maximum of 64 pe=ople on duty. 25. FUlOD DAMAGE SURVEYS A detailed survey was made of flood damage throughout the affected area of northwestern Montana. In urban areas, house-to-house and business-to-business appraisals wete made to determine private flood damage. Municipal. damages were estimated by experienced Corps personnel and city officials. In rural areas, the extent of flooding along the major streams was mapped and the cropping pattern determined for office analysis of estimated crop damage based on land use, crop yields, prices, production costs and the effects of depth, duration, and replant possi- _ bilitiesLD_amages _ to_:tarIlll!tell,dswere_ esj,im":t~ti_ 011_ i;he'l:1as_i.s_ of _ _ _ __ information furnished by the residents and by visual observation by trained estimators. Rural damages are based largely on estimates made by U. S. Department of Agriculture disaster committees in each of the affected counties. Damages to transportation facilities and power, communication, and other utilities were estimated from detailed surveys of loss furnished by the Bureau of Public RoadS, U. S. Forest Service, the Montana State Highway Department, cO'.lnty officials, Montana Power and Light, Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph, and the affected railroads. Damage appraisals included items of_flood-incurred expenses, such as loss of business and revenue, loss of wages, costs of evacua- tion, and flood fig.~ting. Various types of damage are depicted in the photographs accompanying this report. 12