Nick Holloway, public information officer with the Western Montana All‑Hazard Incident Management Team, told the Libby City Council on Dec. 15 that the IMT “took command of the Libby incident at 8AM this morning” and is coordinating closely with local responders. State teams are conducting damage assessments in Troy and Libby to determine whether public infrastructure damage meets the threshold for federal public assistance.

Holloway said engineers who inspected the city‑owned Lower Flower Creek Diversion Dam found seepage and internal erosion along the structure. Engineers and construction crews reduced the dam’s reservoir head on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 and sandbagged problem areas. “By reducing the water level in the reservoir and stabilizing the damaged area, the risk of failure was reduced,” Holloway said. He added that engineers will remain on site and continue monitoring as the community prepares for a forecasted wind and rain event.

An on‑site engineer described the visible seepage as a ‘‘boil’’—water resurfacing where saturated soils have formed a flow path—and told the council the reduction in reservoir head cut modeled water volume from the map’s 24 acre‑feet to an estimated 4 acre‑feet, substantially lowering pressure on the boil. Officials stressed inundation maps shown to the council are worst‑case models and that actual impacts depend on evolving conditions.

City water staff reported the municipal plant experienced elevated turbidity during the event. Staff said turbidity reached about 17 NTU at one peak and spiked higher, triggering a precautionary boil order; it was reported at roughly 7 NTU during the council update. The city has sent emergency water samples to Kalispell for testing for bacteria, disinfection byproducts and heavy metals; staff said DEQ review will be required before the boil order can be lifted.

Holloway described operational preparations: the Red Cross has opened a shelter and is distributing bottled water; sandbag locations are in operation; IMT has set up a temporary EOC call line for residents and plans to publish a disaster landing page on the Lincoln County Emergency Management site with a QR code for private‑property damage self‑reporting. He warned of damaging winds—forecasts of 60–70 mph gusts—expected Tuesday night into Wednesday that pose the greater near‑term threat given the condition of downed trees and likely power outages.

Steve Lauer, lead fire department chief, told the council local emergency services are prepared and that the immediate concern remains high winds rather than flooding. Council members asked clarifying questions about which reservoir the inundation maps referred to; staff clarified the maps shown to the council were for the Lower Flower Creek Diversion Dam and that the larger upper reservoir is not currently threatened.

No formal action was taken at the session beyond the briefing. Officials urged residents to monitor the city’s disaster landing page and to use the EOC phone number to report urgent needs; Holloway provided the number during the update.