WHITE FLIGHT
SHAWN ‘WINDY’ GUST/Press This exclusive photo shows motorists fleeing the region in the middle of a snowy night in late February. Thousands of short-term residents decided the February and March whiteout was no part of the paradise they thought they’d signed up for. Officials say Coeur d’Alene lost more than half its population over two exceedingly cold, white weeks.
By APRIL FUHL
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Nobody moves here expecting sunburn when the snow flies.
But the recent battering of white stuff — an all-time record of 56 inches of it fell in February alone — has sent thousands of short-timers scurrying back from whence they came.
“Screw dat,” said Billy Bob James Lee Fontenot Hebert as he kicked a snow bank and pointed his car toward Thibodaux, La., under the cover of darkness three weeks ago. Mr. Hebert had moved to Coeur d’Alene from down on the bayou in 2017.
Some of the mass exodus headed straight for southern California, where flaming liberals suddenly seemed less repugnant than snow drifts paralyzing people’s private parts.
“Your Chamber of Commerce is a pack of [very bad word] liars,” declared Lucinda Cripes, an outraged Orange Countian who moved to Athol in 2016.
The departure en masse is having mixed impacts locally, said Idaho Department of Social Studies spokesman Juan Sphinctori.
The bad news, according to Mr. Sphinctori, is that Kootenai County taxes will immediately quadruple because property values have plummeted while elected officials continue to increase spending. Crime will rise dramatically because many of the recent transplants were retired law enforcers and other first responders who were helping keep communities safe, Mr. Sphinctori added.
On the positive side, Mr. Sphinctori said, housing is suddenly abundant and affordable, traffic congestion is easing, schools are no longer overcrowded, and long-time Idahoans might seek elected office again.
“The best news,” he said, “is that a number of those departing have simply abandoned their beautiful North Idaho homes, meaning anyone who claims one is constitutionally permitted to keep it under the little known Phil Hart Amendment.”
Mr. Sphinctori said hundreds of waterfront homes are among the unclaimed inventory. To get your free abandoned million-dollar home, go to
See FLIGHT, A9