The city copes with a wild winter

Published 7:19 pm Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Cities around western Washington came to a halt this past week as snow and ice pummeled the roads, and Issaquah and Sammamish were no exception.

The Issaquah School District closed for three days before adjourning for winter break because of treacherous driving conditions, and many city meetings and scheduled events were also canceled or delayed.

A handful of stores and restaurants closed early on several days to help employees get home safely.

The high wind expected for Saturday and Sunday never materialized, which reduced the likelihood of power outages and fallen trees.

The snow did come however – Issaquah received about 6 inches over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

With memories of the 2006 snow storm that knocked out power for several days, many residents hit the stores and stocked up on supplies, preparing to spend several days snowbound.

Retail Manager for Grange Supply, Simone Mauhl, said the weather, combined with last-minute Christmas shopping, had been great for business.

The store spent the week busy with customers shopping for de-icer, dog and horse blankets, heaters and animal feed.

A load of snow shovels that came in Monday morning were gone within a couple of hours.

The store also ran out of salt and bird seed, and on Tuesday reported that gasoline levels were low.

“It was good business, but challenging to keep everything up and running,” she said.

“I think people were worried, especially over the weekend with the storm warnings.

“They were getting prepared, especially because of experiences in the past with the big storm two years ago.”

Front Street Market manager Lori Steendahl reported the same increased business, and said that customers and employees alike were in great moods, enjoying the snow and having fun.

The big ticket item for shoppers was Duraflame logs, Steendahl said, and the market ran out on Monday.

A shipment was expected Christmas Eve.

Gas stations on the Sammamish Plateau ran out of gas when delivery trucks could not reach them.

At press time, station managers said they didn’t know when to expect more.

On Monday the Shell Station on the corner of Northwest Gilman Boulevard and state Route 900 was one of a number of stations to run out of gas.

Manager Rod Kennison was directing customers to nearby stations, and said that during cold weather trucks are only able to carry one tank of gas instead of the usual two, which interrupted delivery schedules.

But despite supply troubles, he was impressed with the city’s ability to keep things operating smoothly.

“I think the public works people did a good job this year, of clearing and maintaining the roads,” he said.

“There have been some problems in the past, when they haven’t been on top of things, but I think they deserve praise this year.”

Indeed, both police and city officials reported no major problems, and said that for the most part, people have stayed off the roads.

Autumn Monahan, public information officer for the city of Issaquah, said the public works department had been working 24 hours a day to clear roads.

The only problem she reported was a tree that fell across East Lake Sammamish Parkway, but it was cleared within 30 minutes.

The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District saw an increase in calls during the snowy weather, and most customers were asking to have their water shut off, said general manager Ron Little.

Approximately 15 calls came in by Monday, reporting pipes leaking into garages, but there were no major issues, he said.

“It hasn’t been cold long enough for pipes to freeze in the ground,” he said.

“They’re pretty deep, they hardly ever freeze.”

Eastside Fire and Rescue was quiet until Sunday when a phone outage was reported in High Point, Snoqualmie Valley and Echo Glen areas, said Public Information Officer Josie Williams.

Short power outages were also reported in Sammamish, along with some frozen pipes and minor flooding.