Are You Prepared?

WAITSBURG - Waits­burg City Public Works Di­rector Dan Katsel points to a long, vertical gauge painted on the concrete structure under the Main Street bridge across the Touchet.

Against a white back­ground, the river's ever- changing water level is in­dicated in black, one foot at a time. It starts at about the 1 and runs all the way up to the 11, with a red mark at the 8 - flood stage. On Tuesday, the level was below one foot. But last winter, the river reached six feet, and Katsel, who monitors the Touchet and the Coppei for their wa­ter volume and speed, alerted then-Mayor Markeeta Little W...