Washed out roads reopen
—Photo courtesy MARY FRANZEL<br>Water and debris tumble down Lightning Creek Road, about 4 1/2 miles from Clark Fork, Idaho, around noon on Tuesday after more than 3 1/2 inches of rain over a four-day period, causing the road to wash out. "The river has decided it apparently liked the road bed," said Franzel on Wednesday. "It'll be a while before the road is fixed as it seems to be the main part of the river now."
SANDPOINT — Bonner County is returning to normal Wednesday, a day after rains soaked the region and caused several road washouts in the eastern part of the county.
East Spring Creek Road reopened by 4 p.m. Wednesday and Upper Pack River Road, which washed out about six miles from U.S. Highway 95, reopened to normal traffic at 4:30 p.m., according to a press release issued by Bob Howard, Bonner County's director of Emergency Management.
Bonner County Road and Bridge crews are scheduled to complete road work on the roads today.
The roads washed out Tuesday afternoon after about 3.5 inches of rain fell over a four-day period starting Friday, stranding a number of residents in the Cabinet and Selkirk mountains.
Estimates of the number of trapped residents ranged widely, with some county officials estimating Tuesday that fewer than 25 residents were trapped by the Spring Creek closure, while others put the number at more than 100. At least 20 residents were believed trapped on the other side of the Upper Pack closure.
Bonner County commissioners declared a state of emergency on Tuesday so contractors could be quickly hired help deal with the washouts. It also smoothes the way for the county to seek state funding if need be, Howard said Tuesday.
Residents on foot and on ATVs maneuvered their way over the undercut road to get around after the creek wiped out a section of U.S. Forest Service Road which parallels the east side of Lightning Creek.