BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — Recent heavy rains caused headaches for some Bonner County residents this week and prompted warnings from authorities.
On Thursday morning, residents at a handful of Bonner Homeless Transition homes in the Trestle Creek area of Highway 200 woke to shallow floodwaters at their doorsteps. A nearby section of the creek had flooded, prompting a call for volunteers to sandbag the property, staff said.
"I was just really surprised and amazed at the amount of water," said MaryJo Ambrosiani, president of the Bonner County Homeless Task Force.
Aside from mud and cleanup work, no major damage was reported and no residents were displaced.
According to Bonner County's emergency manager, recent heavy rains combined with mountain snowmelt and debris in Trestle Creek caused the creek to overflow in sections.
A member of the Sam Owen Fire District told KREM that firefighters donned wetsuits and entered nearby creeks in an effort to remove logs and other debris that were attributing to the high water levels.
"I was pretty shocked and surprised that we had a flooding issue here," Ambrosiani explained, saying the homeless transition property had never flooded before. "The worst thing goes through your mind. I was glad to see there wasn't any more damage than what there is."
The National Weather Service cautioned of rising rivers and lakes across North Idaho for Memorial Day weekend. The agency said that the St. Joe and Kootenai rivers would be impacted along with both Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Pend Oreille.
The Shoshone County Sheriff's Office urged caution to people recreating near water this weekend, saying the Coeur d'Alene River's rising levels could cause some minor flooding.
"With Memorial Day weekend convening in just a few short days, the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone to be mindful of the high water as it is unpredictable, strong, fast and unforgiving," the agency posted on Facebook. "Stay safe and take care of each other."
The Bonner County Sheriff's office also issued a warning to boaters regarding large floating logs and debris on Lake Pend Oreille. Some of the debris, which can be common this time of year, had been marked by deputies.
"It does raise an alarm to you that there might be more coming," said Ambrosiani, who is a lakefront property owner herself. "We just hope there's not the damage we've seen in the past."