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Sand, burlap ease flooding worries

KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 11 months AGO
by KEITH KINNAIRD
News Editor | February 18, 2017 12:00 AM

SANDPOINT — Nervous landowners doubled down Friday on a two-ingredient cocktail to soothe frayed nerves amid a flood warning in Bonner County.

The ingredients? Sand and burlap.

“It’s been a constant stream of people looking for sandbags at both stations,” said Selkirk Fire Rescue & EMS Chief Ron Stocking, referring to stockpiles at its stations in Sandpoint and Sagle.

“People are definitely concerned.”

There were no reports Friday of widespread flooding, although there were some pockets of localized flooding.

The National Weather Service in Spokane forecasts that there will be a slight chance of snow in the morning with highs near 38 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 90 percent, although new snow accumulation is expected to be less than a half an inch.

A snow/rain mix is forecast for Sunday, with another half-inch to an inch of new snow accumulation by Monday morning.

Bonner County Emergency Management and Bonner County Road & Bridge have been making sandbags and sand available at Selkirk’s stations, in addition to the Northside Fire District station in Ponderay, the Sam Owen Fire District station in Hope and the West Pend Oreille Fire District station in Priest River.

“We’re managing though it,” Bob Howard, director of emergency management for Bonner County, said on Friday.

The wet weather also posed challenges for motorists on Friday.

Thawing and saturation forced the county to place weight restrictions on Eureka and Jewel Lake roads. Road & Bridge Director Don Hutson said water eroded beneath the iced-over surface of Eureka Road.

“Enough of it occurred that when you drove across it, it collapsed,” said Hutson.

On the west side of Bonner County, a possibly plugged culvert was sending water over the road on Gleason/McAbee Falls Road.

“Our guys are searching those out as best they can and trying to keep water flowing through the culverts,” Hutson said.

A section of Whittum Road, meanwhile, has water over it due to a depression in the topography, a problem that recurs when whenever there is high water, Hutson said.

Hutson also urged motorists to go slowly and cautiously when traversing roads with shaded areas.

“That’s where the trouble could and will occur,” Hutson said on Friday.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.

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