SHOSHONE COUNTY, Idaho — Shoshone County officials declared a state of emergency Thursday as flooding along the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers forced evacuations and left residents scrambling to protect their properties.
The sheriff’s office deployed off-duty patrol units, firefighters and other first responders to assist residents affected by the rising waters.
Around 3 p.m., the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and Silver Valley Fire & Rescue evacuated families trapped inside their homes as floodwaters continued to rise. Since then, deputies and first responders have spent hours filling sandbags near the Bumble Bee Bridge to protect nearby houses and businesses.
The flooding has transformed familiar landscapes throughout the county. In the Kingston area along Interstate 90, water has overtaken Riverview Road.
Lawrence Sowell, owner of the CDA River RV Campground in Cataldo, has watched water climb several feet around his home over the past three days. He has owned the property since 2021 and said this is the worst flooding he has seen since moving in.
“It’s not a normal flood, by any means,” Sowell said. “From the locals that I’ve talked to …this is like the flood they had back in ’96.”
While Sowell’s property has been impacted, he said others face far worse conditions.
“It doesn’t look like it, but compared to what I’m seeing up the river and the people being evacuated, all the RVs and stuff I’ve seen underwater today,” he said. “It’s horrible upriver, I feel really bad for all the people up there.”
Frank Duhram, who has lived in Shoshone County for more than two decades, said flooding of this magnitude during winter months is unusual for the area.
“I see there’s just a lot of devastation there’s terrible for the property. I mean it is amazing sight to see, but you also feel bad for people to have property that’s being hit,” Duhram said.
The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office warns that flooding is expected to rise another foot overnight, meaning the worst impacts may still be ahead.
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