Sluicing Floodwaters Cut Roads, Isolate Town Streams Overflow After Intense Rains, Leave Republic Cut Off On Three Sides

Republic was cut off on three sides Wednesday, and Ferry County officials declared an emergency because of road damage from an intense rainstorm that began Tuesday evening.

“We were basically inundated,” said Sheriff Pete Warner. “The creeks overloaded themselves. I’ve been here 10 years and I’ve never seen it this bad.”

He estimated 5 to 6 inches of rain had fallen in a few hours, “and when it comes off of these mountains, it just really picks up speed.”

Warner said one of his deputies had to abandon his patrol car on high ground on Sherman Pass after stopping to warn people about high water. The deputy rode back to town in a state Department of Transportation truck high enough to pass through 3 feet of water blocking the road.

State Highway 20 over Sherman Pass was closed from Republic to the Columbia River near Kettle Falls. Numerous washouts and slides took out big chunks of the road. The worst was about a dozen miles east of Republic, where the North Fork of O’Brien Creek took out an entire section of highway.

“There are four or five areas where we have a fourth to a half of the road missing,” said Richard Schilling, a supervisor at the Colville office of the state Department of Transportation.

The time it takes to repair the road will depend on how much help the Colville office gets from detachments elsewhere in the region, he said.

“Even if we get help, I imagine it will take us some days to fix it,” Schilling said.

He didn’t even want to think about the cost.

“It’s going to be more than a day’s pay,” Schilling said. “With our tight little budgets, we really didn’t need this extra shot.”

State Highway 21, north from Republic to Curlew and south to Keller, also was closed by numerous washouts. It was closed first to the north by water over the roadway. Later Wednesday, Highway 21 was closed between Republic and Keller when the Sanpoil River jumped its banks in several places and bit away big chunks of the road.

Also in Ferry County, the Inchelium Road was closed early Wednesday when Sherman Creek threatened a bridge. Later in the morning, the bridge washed out.

Without the bridge, Inchelium is largely isolated except for the Inchelium-Gifford ferry. There was no word on how long it may take to repair the bridge, but work can’t begin until the turbulent creek subsides.

Although state roads in Ferry County bore the brunt of the damage, there were problems in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties as well. A couple of houses flooded in Ferry and Stevens counties, and Pend Oreille County’s LeClerc Creek Road was severed by swollen Mill Creek about six miles north of the Kalispell Indian Reservation in the central part of the county.

State Highway 20, the Sherman Pass road, remained open in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties despite mudslides and shallow water over the roadway. Slides at the Riverview Bible Camp and the Blueslide Resort between Ione and Cusick kept crews busy plowing mud off the road. Another slide was cleared from the road in the Dalkena area, between Usk and Newport.

The worst damage in Pend Oreille County was the LeClerc Creek Road washout, just north of the Riverbend Estates subdivision on the east side of the Pend Oreille River. Repairs could take up to two weeks and cost up to $250,000, county engineer Walt Olsen estimated.

Still, Olsen said he was “pretty pleased” that repairs made after extensive flooding last summer were holding this year.

“We can handle it when they only come at us one at a time,” Olsen said.

Stevens County Public Works Director Duane Lehman said damage to that county’s roads was “nothing” in comparison to 1996 and 1997 flooding. He said he would be surprised if this year’s washouts cause $50,000 worth of damage.

State crews were dealing with high water that lapped over U.S. Highway 395 at the intersection of Spanish Prairie Road just west of Colville. Schilling predicted that at least one lane of the federal highway would remain open.

A Transportation Department tanker truck was pumping up water that threatened one Spanish Prairie home, but it was too late for another house that was completely surrounded by water.

“At the one, I think we can be successful, but the other is a lost cause,” Schilling said.

Ferry County Sheriff Warner said a house at Malo in the northern part of the county also was flooded.

“We had to move their belongings out and put them into spare U-Haul trucks for safekeeping,” Warner said.

He said seven horses also were rescued when 2-1/2 to 3 feet of water flooded barns at the Ferry County fairgrounds near Republic.

In southeastern Washington, small streams and rivers on the Palouse were running high, but had not begun to breach their banks Wednesday.

Whitman County officials said emergency services staff are on alert, but there have not yet been any requests for sandbags or flood assistance.

In North Idaho, the overnight storm dumped more than 2-1/2 inches of rain in Boundary County and nearly 6 inches of snow at Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

The rain flooded roads and caused a few troublesome mudslides around Bonners Ferry.

The Ball Creek Bridge, on West Side Road north of Bonners Ferry, was partially washed out. Crews initially expected repairs to take two days, but county workers had the bridge fixed late Wednesday.

Cow Creek also gushed over Cow Creek Road, blocking access for hours to two major businesses, including Rocky Mountain Academy, a school for troubled teens.

Trees and mud washed onto U.S. Highway 95 north of Bonners Ferry, but the debris was quickly cleared by road crews.

ROAD REPORT FERRY COUNTY - State Route 21, between Curlew and 12 miles south of Republic, closed. No estimate when it will reopen. State Route 20, between SR 21 and SR 395, closed. Authorities report it has extensive damage. No estimate when it will reopen. State Route 25 partially open, damaged by mudslides between Marcus and Evans. At least 23 county roads closed, including Swamp Creek and Long Alec Creek roads. PEND OREILLE COUNTY - LeClerc Road between the river bend and Mill Creek area, north of Cusick. Several mudslides have been reported. Sullivan Lake Road open to emergency traffic only. SR 20 and 31 open but damaged, with shoulders washed away in several locations. STEVENS COUNTY - No roads closed. Northbound lane of U.S. 395 closed at the intersection of Spanish Prairie Road with water over the roadway. Several roads in downtown Chewelah flooded by Chewelah Creek.

Staff writers Andrea Vogt and Kevin Keating contributed to this report.