High Water Marks Reached, Until Next Week Flood Watches Dropped; St. Joe River Above Flood Stage But Under Control

There should be a lull in flooding in the Inland Northwest this weekend, but warmer weather and rain showers could spawn more high water next week, officials warned.

Flood watches were canceled Friday morning in most of Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Only residents along the St. Joe River in St. Maries remained under a flood warning, said Daran Rife of the National Weather Service station in Spokane.

The St. Joe was running at 33.5 feet in St. Maries on Friday afternoon, nearly a foot over flood stage, Rife said.

Sandbag walls and earthen dikes were keeping the river away from homes and businesses for now, according to Benewah County officials.

Current forecasts call for the St. Joe to rise another 6 inches to 1-1/2 feet by Tuesday, Rife said.

Those numbers could rise, along with the levels in other streams and rivers, as temperatures creep into the 60s and rain showers develop over the region Sunday.

Low-lying areas along the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane rivers could be inundated by Monday, said Dana Anderson, spokeswoman for Washington Water Power Co.

Lake Coeur d’Alene currently is 3-1/2 feet above normal summer levels, she said. It is expected to rise as snowpacks in the mountains begin to melt and feed the rivers that flow into the lake.

“We have three rivers entering the lake and only one coming out,” said Anderson, adding that all the spill gates at the Post Falls dam are wide open. “We’re doing everything we can. It’s up to Mother Nature right now.”

Current forecasts call for the Coeur d’Alene River to rise within a foot of flood stage near Cataldo by Tuesday, Rife said.

Residents of Harbor Island on the Idaho stretch of the Spokane River should expect flooding, Anderson said.

In Spokane, flooding may occur early next week near the Greene Street bridge and the TrentHamilton intersection as the Spokane River rises, Anderson added.

“If we get precipitation on top of the warm weather, that could happen,” she said.

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