Rivers Begin To Recede Residents Take Latest Flooding In Stride; Worst Seems Over

Rain-swollen North Idaho rivers crested Thursday and began receding, much to the relief of residents who battled disastrous floods just two months ago.

The worst of the flooding is probably over, officials said. Rains overnight and this morning were expected to drop one-quarter to one-half an inch of water - not enough to cause serious problems. The storm earlier this week dropped more than 2 inches of rain in 24 hours.

At the Cataldo Inn Thursday, bleary-eyed residents munched cheeseburgers and relaxed.

“We’re all taking it in stride,” said Steve Matthews.

Many Cataldo residents were up past midnight, watching the rising Coeur d’Alene River, and wondering if they would have to sandbag again to protect the town.

Most of Cataldo stayed dry. But south of town, about 75 families along Latour Creek were stranded by floodwater. Some came out Thursday in boats.

Twenty-four head of cattle were lost in the floods, most of them belonging to Kootenai County building department chief Dave Daniel.

At nearby Pine Creek, where 15 homes were flooded, a bridge that was submerged under 2 feet of water reappeared Thursday.

“We came real close to losing that bridge,” said Harold Van Asche, Shoshone County’s disaster services coordinator.

“It’s a continuing problem,” he said. “People are frustrated. We just got through with one (flood), and here comes another.”

In St. Maries, the St. Joe River was leaking through several dikes, but all were holding. The St. Joe crested Thursday morning at about three feet over flood stage.

At the Riverdale dike, Richard Wolfe poked his shoe into the dirt. The soil squished underfoot.

“There’s some real soft spots,” said Wolfe, a field officer for the state Bureau of Disaster Services. Behind him, a bulldozer ground its way over the dike to compact the soil.

“It’s taken two months to pump the (February flood) water out to the level you see now,” Wolfe said. “We don’t want it to happen again.”

North Idaho roads bore the brunt of this week’s flood. State road crews worked around the clock building temporary repairs. In Benewah County, Fernwood, Santa, and Emerald Creek Road were especially hard hit. Many pastures and fields around St. Maries were flooded, but few buildings seemed to suffer much damage.

At Heyburn State Park, 30 volunteers picking up debris from the last flood had to contend with a new round of high water.

“For us, it’s going to be an ongoing summer project,” park ranger Theresa Perry said of the cleanup. Behind her, picnic tables sat like islands, surrounded by floodwater.

Still, volunteers collected piles of driftwood, styrofoam, clothing, trash and plastic containers.

“We’ve got a lot of visitors coming who expect the park to look like normal,” said Perry. “But this hasn’t been a normal year.”

Authorities were keeping a close eye on river levels Thursday evening. The National Weather Service continued a flood warning for Shoshone County.

“We’re watching this next storm system. If we have a lot of rain, that could be a problem,” said Mike Lopez, spokesman for Kootenai County Disaster Services. “A lot of it just depends on Mother Nature at this point.”

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