Storm has residents out cold
The Daily Inter Lake
You know the roads are bad when snowplows get stuck - sideways - on a state highway.
Sunday night's storm hadn't let up by Monday, leaving drivers stranded in drifts, igniting fires and hostilities between neighbors, and frustrating plow drivers who opened roads only to have them drift shut again.
There were no serious injuries, but plenty of accidents, including a vehicle that hit a tree on Echo Lake Road. A sheriff's deputy escorted a woman without snow tires on her vehicle up Rogers Lake Road.
Power went out in Glacier National Park, activating a fire alarm, but fire wasn't a problem there. It was on Berne Road, where a downed power line started a fire. Another power line succumbed to wind and snow in Columbia Heights. A tree threatened to fall on North Hilltop Road.
It was more dramatic on Glacier Drive in West Glacier, where a resident heard a crash; her neighbor's tree became uprooted and fell on her house. At least it missed the power lines.
Ditches attracted vehicles across the valley, while other vehicles wouldn't budge out of the center of traffic lanes. Vehicles were reported broken down in the middle of U.S. 93, stalled after hitting a drift on U.S. 2 near the airport, and standing still in the middle of U.S. 2 near the House of Mystery. A van also stopped in the middle of Whitefish Stage Road, south of Fairway Boulevard.
One of the worst reports was on Whitefish Stage and Hodgson roads at about 12:30 a.m. Monday. Then, an older woman was reported stuck inside her vehicle with drifts from 1 to 2 feet on the road. She thought there might be another vehicle in front of her, but couldn't be sure. There was no access for a tow truck, but the woman was fine with a cell phone and plenty of gas. Eventually, a snow plow freed her.
A woman called for help from South Hilltop Road, where she said her vehicle was poised to go off a cliff. She was safely towed.
But roads around Whitefish Stage Road kept plugging with snow. Monday morning, despite repeated passes with plows, Hodgson Road was completely drifted shut.
A 6-foot drift in front of the fire hall on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell posed a potential problem if firefighters were called out. The Creston Fire Department was needed at a chimney fire on LaBrant Road.
It was at about 6 a.m. when a state snowplow got stuck sideways in a drift on Montana 35 and McCaffery Road. At about 7 a.m., a road grader was stuck in the same place.
The storm also caused some chilly encounters with neighbors. On Treweek Drive, a resident complained that a neighbor plowed his driveway and dumped the snow in hers. On Shefford Lane, a resident said neighbors pushed snow up against her fence and made it bulge. On Pioneer Road, a driver got stuck and then reportedly threatened a resident with a hammer.
Less snow and lower temperatures are forecast for today.