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Keith Burks removes valuables from his home as Hangman Creek creeps nearer. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Here are some Washington state highway closures and restrictions from the Washington State Department of Transportation: Interstate 90, Snoqualmie Pass, closed between Ellensburg and Edgewick Road, just east of North Bend. Anticipated to re-open to traffic today. U.S. 2, Stevens Pass, reopened at 8:04 p.m. Tuesday, with restrictions. Tumwater Canyon area of U.S. 2, east of pass, remains closed, with a detour from Coles Corner to Plain and Leavenworth. No trucks over 10,000 pounds allowed because of narrow lanes.

1. Annelucy Virnig scrambles over a snow berm Tuesday to get to the other side of Sprague in downtown Spokane. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Jim Click scoops up water and debris at the YWCA administrative offices Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

A man jumped on the running board of a city snowplow a few days ago and threatened to blow the driver's head off for plowing shut a driveway. Police were called to another Lake City home last week after a mother complained that a snowplow driver struck her son with snow from the plow. And Monday night, one resident of the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden went for his gun and his pepper spray during an altercation with another Aryan Nations' resident over snowplowing.

As if the ravages of nature weren't enough, Washington residents need to beware of scam artists waiting to take advantage of storm victims, state officials said Tuesday. "As the snow melts and waters recede, scam artists often descend into a heavy-hit storm area," Attorney General Christine Gregoire said. "They take advantage of people with innocent-sounding offers of help."

Karl Kammeyer sits near the Wawona, a three-masted sailing vessel that was damaged by this week's storm. Photo by Associated Press

Shipping companies are struggling to catch up from an avalanche of delays caused by persistent road closures in the snowy Cascade Mountains. "It's just a total nightmare," said Bob Tucker, manager of Silver Eagle Co., a freight shipping company. "We deliver to everybody, including your paper. The freight keeps stacking up on the other end."

The roof of the old Wilma Theater in downtown Coeur d'Alene collapsed. The building lost most of its roof. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Workers, aided by the National Guard, use plastic sheets to slide snow off the roof of Sandpoint High School on Tuesday, where officials hoped to ease the load on the roof after part of it collapsed over the auditorium. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Washington businesses were reeling under the one-two punch of winter storms, some because they've had to close their doors and others because they're overrun with customers - and sometimes running out of supplies. The state's chief economist said Tuesday that the net impact of the storms could be a small gain for the economy, given the repairs and construction and retail purchases that will be needed this winter as residents dig out and restore their lives.

Two buses, several trucks and dozens of other vehicles smashed into one another in a series of chain-reaction wrecks in dense fog during Tuesday morning's rush hour, killing at least one person. Police estimated at least 70 vehicles were involved in the accidents on a five-mile bridge carrying Interstate 10 across one end of Lake Pontchartrain between New Orleans and Slidell.

Wet snow crashed through the auditorium roof at Sandpoint High School on Monday, leaving a 40-foot-wide hole. The metal roof, insulation and twisted wooden trusses blanketed most of the auditorium's 300 seats. District officials estimated damage at about $100,000.

1. When a floatplane doesn't. A crew works Monday to salvage a Cessna floatplane that flipped over and sank in Hayden Lake last week. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review (Photo in Idaho edition only) 2. John Cooley skims snow off the roof of Simon's Do-It Center in Coeur d'Alene. (Photo in Idaho edition only)

The Northwest was pummeled by its second major storm in less than a week Sunday as 2 feet of snow, heavy rain and high winds blocked major highways with avalanches, buckled roofs and closed the Space Needle. Snow was piled by bone-chilling gusts as powerful as 90 mph in northwestern Washington. Heavy rain added to the misery, creating an icy glaze that led to flood warnings for parts of Oregon and Western Washington. "Basically, we're paralyzed," said Neil Clement, director of emergency management in Washington's Whatcom County. "Even the snowplows are getting stuck."

The death toll from a tropical storm that lashed northern Borneo with powerful winds and flash floods has reached 163, police said Monday. Tropical storm Greg hit Thursday, leaving 11 districts flooded and more than 25,000 people homeless. About 5,600 are still at relief centers, the news agency Bernama reported. Most of the victims - 146 people - were found Keningau, a logging town 95 miles from the Sabah state capital of Kota Kinabalu, police inspector Hussein Yusof told the Associated Press.

1. Jerry Bass checks damage to his Western wear store. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review 2. Snow and debris cover merchandise at Bass' Western Wear. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

1. The inside view. Walt Wagner drives a city snowplow on Boone Avenue on Friday afternoon. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Radio operator Lois Slater makes a call while keeping an ear to the radio Friday for city street crews.

Coeur d'Alene street crews plow through residential areas after the latest batch of snow was dropped on the region. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. Travelers swamp the Alaska Airlines ticket counter at the Spokane airport Friday morning. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Blaize Naasz, left, from Madison, Wis., and Jared Budd, from Thermopolis, Wyo., wait at the Intermodal Transportation Center. They arrived in Spokane Friday morning and are waiting for buses to Oregon. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review