Floods close area roads
<p>A truck takes on water-covered Latour Creek Road in Cataldo on Saturday afternoon. Water levels are projected to drop through Monday, depending on the weather.</p>
Various roads are closed or damaged due to flooding and snow run-off throughout the Silver Valley.
In Kootenai County, water was reported over Mica Kidd Island Road.
Dobson Pass Road, in the Silver Valley, will be closed effective 10 a.m. today, said the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office.
"It's a major failure in a fill slope over there," said John Specht, the Shoshone County's emergency manager. "The county has to have it completely dug out and see what the problem is."
Dobson Pass connects Wallace to the Prichard and Murray area, so the public will need to use Coeur d'Alene River Road instead.
The old side of the Coeur d'Alene River Road, known as the North Side Road, is closed from Cedar Island on, Specht said, due to water over the road. The county is expecting the closure to last 36 to 48 hours.
Other damaged roads include the east fork of Pine Creek Road and French Gulch Road out of Kingston. The county is doing flood control work at Ross Ranch, east of Kellogg, where a number of homes have been flooded.
Specht said several other areas of the Silver Valley have smaller issues, such as flooded small streams and plugged culverts. The public should notify the sheriff's office of any landslides or road failures.
The Coeur d'Alene River at Cataldo was expected to have crested at noon Saturday, Specht said, at 45 1/2 feet. As of 1:30 p.m. Saturday, water levels there were at 45 feet, about two feet above flood stage.
The river at Enaville measured 70.35 feet, with a flood stage of 72 feet.
Pending the weather, water levels are projected to continue to drop through Monday. However, the National Weather Service forecast includes steady rain today.
County public works had entire crews working Saturday, but they won't be out today unless there's an emergency.
"Everybody's been safe," Specht said. "We haven't had any vehicle accidents due to the high water ... the public has been cooperating real well."
Sand bags and shovels are located at county shops in Smelterville and Osburn if needed.