Transportation

Geography

Historical Background

Identified Hazards

Issues

Maps

Gooding County has four incorporated communities, Bliss (pop. 275), Gooding (3,384), Hagerman (656), and Wendell (2,338). The total population for the county in 2000 was 14,155. That is an increase of 22% since 1990.

Transportation

Geography

Land Area: 733 square miles.

Historical Background

Established January 28, 1913 with its county seat at Gooding. Named for Frank R. Gooding, pioneer sheep rancher, early mayor of the city of Gooding, later Idaho Governor and U. S. Senator. Mountain men and fur traders trapped the Malad River extensively in the early 1800s. Settlers came to the rich agricultural lands of the Hagerman Valley in the 1860s. .

County Seat: Gooding

Landslide -  July 24, 1993

Event Summary:    $10,000.00 - A dirt slide pushed tons of dirt into the Snake River near Bliss and destroyed a road.

County Summary:  A massive dirt slide covering an est. 100 acres pushed tons of dirt into the Snake River near Bliss.  It destroyed a section of River Road, isolating nearby residents and requiring a temporary bypass road.

$10,000.00

The Idaho Statesman August 2 and 3, 1993

Flood - 1993

Event Summary:    Big Wood river flood

County Summary:  Floodwaters from the Big Wood River flooded the city park, property owners sandbagged

Times News 9/10/02

Pestilence - 1985

Event Summary:   Grasshopper infestation led to pesticide spraying on over 6 million acres of range;  Ada, Elmore,  Owyhee and Minidoka counties declared a disaster by USDA, state disaster declaration  6/18/85.

County Summary:  Grasshopper infestation

The Idaho Statesman 3/1/86

Flood - 1976

Event Summary:   Big  Wood River flood

County Summary:  The Big Wood River flooded Gooding; water went over the west bridge.

Times-News 9/10/02

Flood -  February 10-14, 1962

Event Summary:    $15,000,000.00 - Floods were touched off when prolonged rain and warm temperatures combined to melt mountain snow packs and send the runoff rushing into the lowlands faster than the still frozen ground could absorb.  A federal disaster declaration was issued  2/14/62 after extensive flooding along the  Portneuf River and its tributaries, The Snake and Teton Rivers, inundating an area from Sugar City to Malad and from Aberdeen to Soda Springs.  Throughout the area, numerous earthen dams and levees collapsed, roads were closed, bridges damaged, houses and businesses flooded.  National Guard and Army Corps of Engineers responded to the areas in hopes of stopping additional flooding.  Damage was estimated at more than $15 million.  Damage to over 1500 homes was reported.

County Summary:  Ice jams on the Little Wood River caused flooding and evacuations in Gooding.  12 homes affected by the floods.

The Idaho Statesman

Flood -  February 25, 1957

Event Summary:  Heavy rain combined with ice breakup on rivers caused flooding in the Little Wood River,  Portneuf River, and Weiser River basins.

County Summary:  Little Wood River near Shoshone flooded; state of emergency declared.  National Guard units assisted in evacuations and sandbagging.  Ice floes in the floodwaters damaged highway bridges.

The Idaho Statesman  2/27/57

Wind -  April 28, 1940

Event Summary: Tornado in Gooding

County Summary:  A tornado in Gooding destroyed several homes and barns, but curiously, did not break a half-case of eggs in one structure.

Article source and date unknown

Identified Hazards ( Most likely to occur & greatest impact)

Other Issues