Weather

Sheriff John Goldman, center, meets with emergency personnel in their command center at Fire Station 1. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Tree trimmer Gary Franklin removes a 43-year-old blue spruce from a crushed van owned by Lou Carver. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

As the new snowstorm swirls around him Thursday afternoon, veteran Kootenai Electric Cooperative line crew foreman Bill Shaffer splices a broken line on Johnson Hill in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Vergie Cryderman, 81, is helped into Spokane's Libby Center Red Cross shelter Thursday. She had been without heat for two days and was getting hungry when she decided to call for assistance. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Vergie Cryderman, 81, is helped into Spokane's Libby Center Red Cross shelter Thursday. She was without heat for two days and was getting hungry when she decided to call for assistance. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Tens of thousands of people shivered for a third day without electricity Thursday after a severe ice storm snapped trees and power lines in parts of the Northwest. Throughout Oregon, Washington and North Idaho, rain, snow and subfreezing temperatures claimed lives and damaged property.

Cherie Beznaiguia and her son Khalid, 7, of Spokane, are spending a few days at Templin's Best Western in Post Falls, where many Spokane residents are seeking refuge for a few days until power is restored. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The Washington Insurance Commissioner's Office offers these tips for handling insurance claims: Make any reasonable effort to minimize the damage without endangering yourself. Document your loss as best you can. Take photographs of the damage. Prepare descriptions of damaged items, including brand names and model numbers.

1. Spencer 2. Hart 3. Bledsoe

1. Visiting Nurses Association nurse Dave Cook listens to Tom Griner's heart. Griner is recovering from pneumonia and keeping warm with extra layers of clothing. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Louise Lundberg and her daughter Barbara Buckley pack Lundberg's bag so that she can catch a flight to Seattle to stay with her son.

David Wells pumps sewage from a holding tank Thursday that had filled up, flooding homes in the Fernan Village area. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. WWP's Diane Rowland, left, delivers lunch to Ray Whitney and Joyce Thomas, who worked round the clock to clear trees from power lines in northwest Spokane. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Ice crashes around Del Murphy of Hawkeye Construction as he yanks a frozen tree away from a service line at a house at C Street and Rockwell.

A Washington Water Power Co. employee was electrocuted Thursday night while responding to a gas leak in a Spokane Valley neighborhood. The 32-year-old man came into contact with a power line downed by Tuesday's ice storm, witnesses said.

Finch Arboretum's white willow survived Tuesday's ice storm with a few broken limbs. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

1. Cyclists wind through a surreal world of ice Wednesday along the Centennial Trail. A vicious ice storm hit the Inland Northwest on Tuesday, leaving the area frozen. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Looking for a warm place to eat breakfast, customers piled into the lobby of Perkins at Trent and Division in Spokane. Many were escaping cold temperatures in homes without power. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 3. Caitlin Larkin and her brother Chris found themselves in warmer surroundings on Wednesday afternoon. The children and their mother Kelly enjoyed a room and the indoor pool at Cavanaugh's Inn at the Park. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Josh Gales, left, and his mother use everything but the kitchen sink to clear their windshield. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Josh Gales, left, and his mother use everything but the kitchen sink to clear their windshield. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Kootenai Medical Center was swamped with victims of the region's ice storm. But the influx was less from the injured and the ailing. Instead, the hospital was flooded with the hungry and the cold.

1. Stan Larderbaugh clears a path for his car in Spokane's Cannon Hill neighborhood, which was hit hard by Tuesday's ice storm. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. Karen Watson digs a path to her home in Sandpoint, which has gotten more than its share of snow in the last few days. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 3. Scott Gittel removes limbs that were torn from his parents' trees on 12th Street in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review