Wintry weather makes comeback

Icy roads proved difficult Sunday for motorists across the Inland Northwest, after a storm left a slick dusting of snow.

Police, paramedics and tow truck operators were kept busy throughout the night responding to numerous reports of collisions, slide-offs and other weather-related mishaps.

Among the accidents reported was a multi-injury collision north of Spokane on Nine Mile Road and Wind River Drive.

Little information was available late Sunday, but initial reports indicated a vehicle slid into a group of people standing outside another vehicle involved in a separate collision about 8 p.m., dispatchers with the Spokane Fire Department said.

Officials with the Washington State Patrol reported “multiple crashes and slide-offs” in the Spokane area beginning at 1 p.m., most of them along Interstate 90, but no serious injuries were reported.

“When the snow started there were about a dozen crashes within a half-hour on I-90,” said Officer Tim Moses of the Spokane Police Department. “It was one right after the other.”

Moses said most accidents were single-car slide-offs. There were very few accidents within the city limits, Moses said.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said an additional storm system was expected to move through the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas Sunday night and continue today, possibly bringing an additional half-inch of snow.

Temperatures will stay below freezing through at least mid-week, with another chance of snow by Friday, said meteorologist Jeff Cote. That storm may bring several inches, Cote said.

Meanwhile, residents of Western Washington continued to recover Sunday from last week’s disastrous floods, largely spared from the weekend snowfall that prompted hazardous weather alerts to be issued for much of Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Federal disaster aid will be available to individuals and businesses in Grays Harbor and Lewis counties who need somewhere to stay, help with repairs or other assistance after last week’s violent storms and widespread flooding. Gov. Chris Gregoire said other counties may be added to the list after teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency finish assessing the damage from last week’s flooding.

Individuals may be eligible for rent payments for temporary housing, medical and dental care, funeral assistance, grants to replace personal and business property, unemployment assistance for up to 26 weeks for those who lost their jobs because of the storms, and low-interest loans to pay for repairs not covered by insurance.

Gregoire commended the federal government for its fast efforts. On Saturday, President Bush declared Washington’s flooding a major disaster, making federal recovery aid available to state and local governments.

Sunday’s announcement expands the help to individuals and businesses, but only in two of the six counties affected by the previous declaration.

“So many of our neighbors are working to recover from these storms, and I would like to thank President Bush and federal officials from FEMA for their response to my request for federal aid,” Gregoire said. “I know that this help cannot bring lives back to the way they were, but it will bring much needed help.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said it was helpful having the FEMA inspectors get onto a helicopter to tour the affected communities on Saturday.

“All of us were amazed at the torrential downpour, but when you get up into the air and see the mile after mile of devastation … it is overwhelming,” Murray said Sunday. “I’ve been through a number of disasters here, from earthquakes to previous floods and this one to me is one of the most widespread I’ve seen.”

Murray said she was impressed by the number of volunteer organizations already helping people. She promised more help was on the way.

“No one should be sitting in their home wondering what they should do. If they just get a hold of their local officials, they will be steered in the right direction,” she said.

In Olympia, the Ranch House BBQ restaurant, which was destroyed by a mudslide in last week’s storm, likely will reopen in January at the Governor Hotel.

Sandra Miller, vice president and general manager of the hotel, confirmed the offer Sunday night.

Restaurant co-owner Melanie Tapia is expected to announce today that kitchen space at the Governor Hotel has been donated to the business, free of charge.

Also Sunday the state Health Department announced that the water is now safe to drink in a Grays Harbor County water district where the supply was affected by last week’s storms.

The department lifted the boil-water advisory Sunday that was issued a week ago for the Central Park district, which serves about 3,000 people.

The system lost power and water pressure because of the storms. After power was restored, the water system flushed its lines and used chlorine to make sure no bacterial contamination would occur.

Storms beginning on Dec. 1 cut electric power, destroyed buildings and caused widespread flooding which closed a 20-mile section of Interstate 5 for most of last week. Six deaths were blamed on the disaster: four people in southwestern Washington and a pair of hikers in the Cascade Mountains. At least one person was missing, but police in Winlock considered their search for the elderly man a recovery mission, not a rescue.