Another mudslide hits PR area
Another mudslide on East River Road north of Priest River shut down the road for several hours Tuesday. (Courtesy photo)
PRIEST RIVER — East River Road north of Priest River has seen its share of mudslides this year, and so it continues.
Another mudslide occurred Tuesday in the 5300 block, in the same area where a large mudslide closed the road and knocked out power in the area just over two weeks ago.
The slide was reported at 11:52 a.m., and the road was closed for several hours, reopening for traffic around 4 p.m. Bob Howard, director of Bonner County Emergency Management, said several trees slid with the hillside, hitting the power lines. But although there was some arcing on the lines, he said no power outages were reported.
Bonner County saw several mudslides in March, including the one in the same area a couple weeks ago. The road about a mile north of that slide continues to be closed as the hillside is sinking and unstable. Crews will not be able to work on that stretch of road until it dries out, and in the meantime, traffic is detoured around the area on East River Loop. Mudslides also occurred on Peninsula Road and Highway 57 last month.
On the other side of the county, Talache Beach Road in Sagle was closed last month after a mudslide destroyed a home and threatened several others. Flooding and debris plugging culverts also wreaked havoc throughout March.
Bonner County isn't the only county in North Idaho suffering from mudslides and other weather-related issues. A recurring mudslide along Highway 95 near Mountain Meadows Road in Boundary County shut down the highway again on Friday. Then on Sunday, a slide on Myrtle Creek Road, also known as Forest Service Road 633, uncovered two cases of vintage dynamite. The Spokane Bomb Squad was called in to assist Forest Service personnel and the dynamite was removed. It is believed to have been left behind when the road was built originally in 1974.
And with more wet weather in the forecast, there may be no reprieve for North Idaho in the near future.
"We are supposed to get a bunch more rain starting tomorrow," Howard said. "So it could be a busy week."
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.