Flooding’s Toll Begins Pouring In County Building Inspectors Offering Services Free
Benewah County officials Thursday reported $18 million in damage to homes and commercial property from recent flooding, Sheriff Rodney Dhormahlen said Thursday.
That doesn’t count the cost of repairing roads and bridges, except for the breaks in dikes along the St. Joe River that put water across Idaho Highway 3.
One of the dikes was patched Wednesday and the other breach was expected to be filled sometime Thursday, Dhormahlen said. The St. Joe River has dropped 8 feet since cresting on Saturday.
Shoshone County figures $5 million to $7 million will be needed to fix its roads and bridges, but hasn’t assembled totals for personal property casualties. Damage estimates are not available for other counties in North Idaho.
Building inspectors fanned out across the flooded areas of North Idaho Wednesday and Thursday to help residents determine what it will take to make their homes safe. The service is being offered free.
Most of the calls for this kind of assistance have come from the Cataldo area, said Dave Daniel, the top Kootenai County building official. Several buildings there were built without foundations. But Daniel and his crew so far haven’t condemned any buildings.
Local fire districts are helping by sending personnel out to identify homes with damage that need a closer look.
The American Red Cross, meanwhile, opened service centers in Pinehurst and St. Maries to help people in Shoshone, Benewah and Kootenai counties who have suffered flood problems. Those centers will provide vouchers for food, clothing, minor repairs and the resources “to get people back to where they were before the flood as quickly as possible,” said Carol Hall, manager of the Panhandle chapter of the Red Cross.
The Pinehurst service center is at the old Country Club. The St. Maries center is at the Washington Water Power building.
They will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Fire departments in Coeur d’Alene, Hayden Lake, Worley, and Pinehurst started handing out bottled water donated by Tidyman’s Thursday.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and local highway districts also are offering to help clean up sandbags in Fernan Village and Harbor Island areas.
Sand will be dumped in a few central locations and later picked up by the highway districts.
Used bags will be disposed of by the Kootenai County Solid Waste Department.
Jail inmates, working in the Sheriff’s Labor Program, will be used for the work.
The Idaho Department of Transportation continues to work to open roads around the area.
Idaho Highway 3 is now open, but to only one lane of traffic in some areas.
The highway is closed completely north of St. Maries and Reed’s Corner. Idaho Highway 6, south of St. Maries, will remain closed at Harvard Hill until Monday.
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This sidebar appeared with the story: FLOOD RELIEF Free bottled water is being distributed between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. at: Coeur d’Alene Fire Station No. 1, at the corner of Fourth Street and Foster Avenue. Kootenai County Fire Protective District Station No. 1, 1712 Golf Course Road, Coeur d’Alene. Worley Fire Department. Hayden Lake Fire Department, on Hayden Avenue, east of U.S. Highway 95. In Pinehurst, Shoshone County Fire Protection District No. 2.
Firewood The Bureau of Land Management is offering free firewood to residents of Kootenai and Shoshone counties affected by the flood. The BLM also will deliver firewood to elderly and disabled people affected by the floods. Call 664-6385 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. People can also go to the fire station in Pinehurst for firewood.
For Damage Inspections Kootenai County Building Department at 769-4401 will perform damage inspections for no charge.
Food, clothing, minor home repairs The American Red Cross has opened service centers at the old Country Club in Pinehurst and in the Washington Water Power Building in St. Maries. People can get vouchers for food, clothing and minor repairs between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Photo identification is required.
Federal disaster money Call the Federal Emergency Management Agency between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week. Applications for federal money to repair flood damage must be made by telephone. Call (800) 452-9029. For the speech and hearing impaired, (800) 462-7585.
This sidebar appeared with the story: FLOOD RELIEF Free bottled water is being distributed between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. at: Coeur d’Alene Fire Station No. 1, at the corner of Fourth Street and Foster Avenue. Kootenai County Fire Protective District Station No. 1, 1712 Golf Course Road, Coeur d’Alene. Worley Fire Department. Hayden Lake Fire Department, on Hayden Avenue, east of U.S. Highway 95. In Pinehurst, Shoshone County Fire Protection District No. 2.
Firewood The Bureau of Land Management is offering free firewood to residents of Kootenai and Shoshone counties affected by the flood. The BLM also will deliver firewood to elderly and disabled people affected by the floods. Call 664-6385 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. People can also go to the fire station in Pinehurst for firewood.
For Damage Inspections Kootenai County Building Department at 769-4401 will perform damage inspections for no charge.
Food, clothing, minor home repairs The American Red Cross has opened service centers at the old Country Club in Pinehurst and in the Washington Water Power Building in St. Maries. People can get vouchers for food, clothing and minor repairs between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Photo identification is required.
Federal disaster money Call the Federal Emergency Management Agency between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week. Applications for federal money to repair flood damage must be made by telephone. Call (800) 452-9029. For the speech and hearing impaired, (800) 462-7585.