County hit hard by winter

December 20, 2017

By Michael Meier Director, Emergency Management Public Information Officer During the last 24 hours, Boundary County has suffered 18 to 24 inches of snow depending on the location, power outages, internet failure, overloaded Verizon phone system, stop lights not functioning, and a bunch of fender benders and accidents closing roads and highways. First responders have been stretched to the limit. Speaking of snow, if you have a large accumulation of snow on your building, remove it now before the next bit of weather arrives. Do your sidewalks and decks and roof tops as necessary, do not wait or put it off. At this time it appears most people have power back or have crews working to restore that power. If you are one of those without power, do not heat your home with a barbeque or similar device. Use an alternate heat source designed to heat with. Or, if needed stay with a neighbor or friend until the power is back on. Internet and cell phone is slow as the system seems to be overloaded at this time. Be patient, it will get better. Solid waste sites also experienced the snow and they will require time to get back to their pristine working conditions and will be open and operating as conditions allow. The secondary roads are all dangerous right now, so treat them all with respect and drive slowly. The highways also are suffering the onslaught of dangerous conditions with stop light failures and drivers in a hurry. Drive very defensively while on the roads and treat all non-working stop lights as a four way stop. Cold weather will be approaching later tonight, so be prepared. Winter is here with a bit of a bang, work together and be safe. We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Boundary County Emergency Management.