Mudslide Sweeps Driver Away Rain-Soaked Hillside Washed Over U.S. Highway 95 ‘Like A Wave’; Road Closed In At Least Two Spots
An avalanche of mud and trees that ripped loose from a hillside buried U.S. Highway 95 and swept a passing car nearly 50 yards off the road Wednesday.
The driver of the car, a 38-year-old Bonners Ferry man whose name was not released by authorities, escaped by climbing out the passenger window of his half-buried vehicle.
The man was listed in stable condition after being taken to a local hospital by a passer-by. He was later moved to Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.
“The man who picked him up said he came out of the mud pile shaking but was able to walk to the road,” a Boundary County sheriff’s dispatcher said.
The car was caught in the edge of the mud slide and pushed down an embankment. It came to rest on its side in tons of mud and snapped trees on the ninth fairway of Mirror Lake Golf Course.
“That guy had one wild ride if he remembers any part of it,” said Dan Robertson, who manages the golf course. “He’s very lucky. It’s amazing he got out of it.”
The rain and snow-soaked hillside collapsed about 2 p.m. It closed Highway 95 about two miles south of Bonners Ferry. The road will remain closed until a soil specialist decides if the hill is stable.
The slide was 15 feet deep in some spots and more than 150 yards long. Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl said it appeared the slide shot down the hill, almost sailed across the highway and spread onto the golf course across the road.
“There was a lot of water with it and it looks like it went over the road like a wave,” he said. Robertson said it could take more than 500 dump-truck loads to clear the mess off the golf course.
Boundary County has been inundated with rain the past two days. Repeated mudslides closed one lane of Highway 95 north of town. The steep stretch of road finally was closed to all traffic late Wednesday.
Another 10-foot-deep, 100-yard pile of mud closed West Side Road while fast-rising creeks caused flooding in some areas.
Commissioners declared a state of emergency for the county Wednesday afternoon and schools will be closed today.
“It’s a soupy, soupy mess up here. We are having problems all over the county,” said Commissioner Murleen Skeen.
Traffic was being routed around the major slide onto an old highway. But heavy trucks were beating up the narrow road so badly the state decided to stop southbound semis at the Canadian border for the night.
“The road won’t handle that kind of traffic and we are worried about flooding and more slides on the old road,” Skeen said.
It took the Idaho Transportation Department more than four hours to clear most of the mud from Highway 95. A local logging company also donated earth movers and a skidder to drag away downed trees while searchers probed the thick pile on the golf course to make sure no more cars were buried.
“The driver who escaped said there were no other cars on the road but we wanted to be sure,” said Idaho State Police Cpl. Chris Yount.
Both Bonner and Boundary counties are preparing for floods. Sand bags are available at the landfill in Boundary County but Bonner officials say they don’t have enough to pass out to residents.
High water already is eating away at roads and Bonner County Sheriff Chip Roos said emergency equipment, including boats, will be on standby for the week.
“Hopefully we won’t hit the extremes with all the rain, but I have a feeling we are going to be world-famous for water soon,” Roos said.
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