Boundary And Bonner Counties Buried Constant Snow Since Tuesday Leaves Parts Of Panhandle Under 3 To 4 Feet
Boundary County declared a state of emergency Friday as residents awoke to as much as 4 feet of snow.
In Bonner County, 3 feet of snow have accumulated in the last week, clogging Sandpoint’s business district and slowing traffic.
“It’s been snowing constantly since Tuesday and we are expecting another storm,” said Bob Graham, Boundary County’s emergency services commander.”We have well over 4 feet in some areas and are gearing up for problems including power outages.”
Schools closed Friday, snow shovels were scarce and the snow-plowing business was booming.
The major concern: Heavy, wet snow could snap trees, sag power lines and collapse roofs.
“We have so much snow on roofs and utility lines now that if we get more or it rains we are going to have some serious headaches,” Graham said.
Only scattered power outages have been reported so far, mostly in Boundary County, the Priest Lake area and in Troy, Mont. Northern Lights, which serves 12,000 customers in the region, had all its crews out Friday trying to restore electricity to a couple hundred people.
Road crews in both counties have worked around the clock to keep streets passable. They have hauled away thousands of tons of snow and the rest has been pushed into 6- to 8-foot-high berms along roadways.
“The roads are a little narrow but they are open. We have a lot of trees down too but no serious power outages” said Bonner County Road Supervisor Red Riebe. “We are pretty happy campers right now and glad we are not in Spokane’s shoes.”
Weather watchers in both of Idaho’s northernmost counties say this is the earliest barrage of snow since the late 1960s.
“We should be seeing this in February not now. It’s not a good sign to have it this soon,” Riebe said.
The mounds of snow have caught many residents off guard, stranding some in their homes for several days, unable to get out of their own driveways. In Bonners Ferry, merchants have sold more than 300 snow shovels a day.
“People are snapping up anything that looks like snow removal equipment. We have been swamped for four days,” said Harold Sims, owner of Sims Implement in Bonners Ferry.
Stan Mastre, 67, runs his own snow removal business in Bonners Ferry and has turned away caller after caller. “This is about as bad as I’ve seen it in 20 years,” he said. “It’s been non-stop since Tuesday and I’ve only had a few hours of sleep.”
Mastre already blew an engine on one of his trucks and the transmission on another. He’s now using a front-end loader to make paths to snowbound residents.
“Most of us expect this in North Idaho. We kind of take it in stride,” said Sims, who is also mayor of Bonners Ferry. “At least we aren’t without light and heat like some of those suffering in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.”
Sandpoint’s downtown merchants struggled for a few days after 6-foot snow berms blocked all the parking spaces and their storefronts.
“It was quiet for a few days but I don’t hear too many people complaining,” said Kathy Klager, co-owner of the Whistle Stop Cafe.
“If people can get out of their driveways they are happy and we are glad to see the snow here for ski season.”
, DataTimes