Cleanup: City asks unsheltered people to move on from West Broadway Island

Ariel Flankey and many others living in tents on the West Broadway Island in Missoula were packing up their belongings, tarps, blankets and other items on Thursday morning as city workers moved through to ask people to move on due to expected spring river runoff that will likely flood the island in the coming weeks.

Flankey, 28, grew up in Missoula and is one of the many hundreds of people in the community living unsheltered even throughout the cold winter months. She’s barred from entering the Johnson Street homeless shelter because of a no-contact order, and many others living on the island have the same issue. So, she and many people who were asked to move on on Thursday are simply packing up their tents and moving a few hundred yards downstream to find another place to sleep for the night.

Ariel Flankey, 28, packs up blankets, clothes, food and other belongings as the city of Missoula carries out a campsite sweep and cleanup of the West Broadway Island, forcing Flankey and other folks experiencing houselessness to remove and relocate their campsites in anticipation for potential spring river

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