Cda Homes On The Line Lake Coeur D’Alene Crests, But Pend Oreille Is Still Rising

Hundreds of high school students were drafted into flood-fighting service Monday, joining the National Guard and volunteers on the front line at Harbor Island.

But no sooner had homes there been secured than flood officials began turning their attention northward.

The Spokane River and Lake Coeur d’Alene crested Monday without causing major damage, but Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River aren’t expected to crest until late this week.

Kootenai County Disaster Services established a command post in Bayview in the event rising waters begin washing away float homes, docks or yards.

“High waters are expected to lift docks and some of those things off their pilings,” said Richard Wolfe of the state Bureau of Disaster Services.

Officials also are worried about septic systems flooding and the possible contamination of the Pend Oreille Pines water system.

The lake could reach 4-1/2 feet above summer level by Thursday.

“Flows into the lake have been at near record levels,” Wolfe said. On Monday, the Clark Fork River was flowing at 130,000 cubic feet per second, which is slightly lower than its volume during the 1974 floods.

Flood conditions are serious enough statewide that Gov. Phil Batt declared the entire state a disaster area Monday. He declared Kootenai, Bonner, Shoshone and Clearwater counties disaster areas on Sunday.

“It’s not something that’s located in one section of the state,” said Batt spokesman Frank Lockwood. “The Bureau of Disaster Services asked for a statewide disaster declaration so if they have a problem, they can move in.”

After Sunday’s declaration, several National Guardsmen pitched in to help with the sandbagging efforts on Harbor Island in the Spokane River.

“The civilians got a chance to rest last night,” said Sgt. Frank Schilling of Sandpoint. “Now we’re supervising the high school kids.”

Juniors and seniors from Lake City and Coeur d’Alene high schools, whose parents gave permission, left school and brought shovels and enthusiasm to the soggy job at Harbor Island. As the high school parking lots emptied, East Riverview Drive was flanked with more than 100 cars and pickups.

“It’s a day out of school in the sun,” said Carrie Ingraham, who brought food donated from her school.

After they signed in, Ingraham and her friends hiked down the hill to the island, passing volunteer Bud Endler, a Shriner from Maryland, in town visiting family.

“Hey guys and gals,” he called to the newly arriving students. “Thanks for coming. Head for the sand pile. You’ll get lots of exercise.”

About 400 students and other volunteers were filling, hauling and piling sandbags on the island. Senior Kim Budvarson, wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt, was at the start of one line.

She worked up a sweat as she handed the bags down the line, emptying sand from every other bag that was filled too full. The only class she wasn’t really missing was weightlifting.

“I was here yesterday, too,” she said. “I was surprised to see they needed more help. It’s nice to see so many people come down here.”

Washington Water Power hydro engineer Gary Stockinger said the lake and river appeared to stabilize by Monday afternoon.

The amount of water flowing into the lake and flowing out had equalized at about 41,400 cubic feet per second, he said. The lake was expected to remain near 2,136 feet - 8 feet above summer level - through the week.

Another 40 guardsmen were on their way to Kootenai County from Boise. Many of them were expected to help with flood preparations in Bayview.

Water has crept into the parking lot of Bayview’s Scenic Bay marina, where visitors negotiate a series of planks to reach the home and office of manager Bob Pauley.

Pauley has slept little in the past five days as the water has crept toward the house. He’s concerned that floating debris will break power, water or sewer lines at the marina.

He planned to offer his heavy equipment to disaster services crews.

“They’re going to sandbag my house,” he said at midday.

Water was expected to continue to rise at both Pend Oreille and Priest lakes this week. Priest Lake residents had called for volunteers to help sandbag in Coolin and elsewhere around the lake.

“Priest Lake is already 3 feet above summer level,” Wolfe said. “We don’t want people to be panicked up there, but they need to know it could come up some more, maybe another 2 or 3 feet.”

In Boundary County, the Kootenai River no longer was at flood stage, but the Moyie River still was raging. The river reached a record 10-1/4 feet above the spillway at the city’s electric dam on Saturday.

Debris in the river threatened to jam the spillway and cause serious damage, Wolfe said. The city of Bonners Ferry hired a contractor to repair a damaged cable system designed to catch the debris.

Emergency work also continued on levees in St. Maries, where water is percolating through dozens of leaks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continued repairs on the Cherry Creek levee, which breached Saturday and threatened about 50 homes.

The St. Joe River was gradually receding. Because the levees are saturated, however, the threat of failure won’t disappear until the river drops below flood stage.

The American Red Cross served hundreds of meals in St. Maries to flood volunteers and evacuees. The Red Cross also reopened a shelter in Kellogg for families evacuated from an apartment house flooded by Milo Creek.

Milo Creek has been running partly underground through a damaged culvert system and partly above ground through the streets of Kellogg since Friday.

Residents there sandbagged and contained the creek to two streets that lead to the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. The flow dropped slightly Monday, but the problem was far from over.

“The permanent fix there is going to be real expensive,” Wolfe predicted.

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The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Susan Drumheller Staff writer Staff writer Julie Titone contributed to this report.