POST FALLS — Late winter’s wrath continues to grip the area, this time causing problems in Post Falls’ hilly Highlands neighborhood.

Garbage pickup was significantly impaired for hundreds of Highlands residents on Thursday after trucks operated by Coeur d’Alene Garbage/Post Falls Sanitation had difficulty navigating streets covered with thick sheets of ice and compact snow.

“It’s a nightmare up there,” said Phil Damiano of Coeur d’Alene Garbage. “We’re getting stuck then getting ourselves unstuck, only to get stuck again.”

Damiano said it’s only the third time in decades that his company’s services have been disrupted.

“The first time was Mount St. Helens (which erupted in 1980) and then an awful snowstorm four or five years ago,” he said.

Post Falls public works director John Beacham said record snowfall is impacting the entire region and his crews are working long hours to clear streets.

“It’s been challenging for all the cities in the area,” he said.

A break earlier this week in the snow allowed his crews to catch up by widening snow-clogged streets and scraping compact ice — only to be hit with more snow.

Compounding the issue, the city of Post Falls recently started using snow gates on its plows to minimize berms in driveways and Beacham said the new equipment did slow plowing efforts.

By late Thursday afternoon, Beacham said, major arterials and collectors had been plowed and crews were working residential neighborhoods.

Meantime, Damiano asked Highlands residents to have patience.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can,” he said.

He advised residents whose garbage or recyclable receptacles were not collected on Thursday to leave them out.

“We’ll get there,” he said.