Small Town News

Issaquah on ice

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Snowstorm snarls traffic, prompts school closures

The nightmare occurred long before Christmas and before Thanksgiving.

Issaquah and the Puget Sound region slid to a halt during a fall snowstorm Nov. 22. The storm snarled commutes for Issaquah residents and prompted road crews to toil through Thanksgiving to clear streets. The poor conditions interrupted the regional transit system and left riders huddled in bus shelters. The fallout sent shoppers scrambling to stores for emergency supplies and Thanksgiving staples.

The mercury dipped into the teens and 20s record cold temperatures in the days after the storm and turned roads icy.

"People were very understanding of the situation," Issaquah Police Patrol Cmdr. Scott Behrbaum said. "I think a lot of people were just trying to get home Monday night."

Some motorists abandoned vehicles and turned road shoulders along Highlands Drive Northeast, Newport Way Northwest and Southeast Black Nugget Road into impromptu parking lots. Police impounded more than 30 vehicles in travel lanes as conditions deteriorated Nov. 22.

Bret Heath, city Public Works Operations and emergency management director, said the storm reminded drivers to prepare for poor road conditions.

"If you're going to travel, you need to be prepared for it," he said. "Going out without being prepared to travel in winter weather

or not having the skills to travel in winter weather just causes problems for everybody on the road."

Issaquah School District administrators released students early Nov. 22 in order to allow more time for elementary school bus routes later in the day. Traffic and poor road conditions caused students on 17 school buses to remain stuck on roadways at 5:30 p.m. long after the afternoon routes usually conclude.

The district later canceled classes through the Thanksgiving hob-day. Students returned to school Nov. 29.

The road home

The snowfiakes started to fall Nov. 22 as Diana Boyd sat inside a Seattle office.

The bus commuter left the office early to catch a King County Metro Transit bus home to the Klahanie

area.

"I got out of there at about 3:30, and the roads in Seattle were looking OK," she said. "By the time the bus finally got to Issaquah, it was a mess."

Boyd and about 50 other passengers lingered at the Issaquah Transit Center for about 60 minutes in the storm.

"I was probably about five minutes away from saying, 'Bag it, I'm

going to go to a hotel, '" she said.

Then, a bus stopped near the transit center shelter.

"I'm not even sure if this was a regularly scheduled shuttle," she said. "The driver just said, 'Get on, we're going to the highlands.'"

Riders jammed inside the bus, like sardines, for the ponderous trip to the Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride and then on to home.

"The roads got sanded a lot earlier, so it really made getting around up here a lot easier," Boyd said.

City and King County Road Services Division crews operated around the clock and on Thanksgiving to combat ice and snow.

The storm turned Issaquah-Hobart Road Southeast treacherous and caused traffic to back up onto Front Street North in downtown Issaquah.

Mike Barer spent hours on a slow trip from the Crossroads area in Bellevue to Maple Valley. Barer inched along Issaquah-Hobart Road Southeast past a stalled tractor-trailer and snowplow, plus numerous oars stuck in roadside ditches.

A car also crashed through a fence and almost nailed a house along Front Street South.

"We barely were able to safely pass the carnage on the street and turn onto Cedar Grove" Road Southeast, Barer said.

Winter wonderland - and workload

The snowstorm resulted in a long Thanksgiving holiday for students and others.

Issaquah resident Jessica Towns and stepdaughter Rosaline Camara, 9, headed to a hill near the Issaquah Community Center for some sledding Nov. 23. Towns opte'd not to brave the slick hillside on a plastic sled.

"I decided not to go sledding as not to break my tailbone," she said.

Clark Elementary School student Ryder Marin, 9, trudged through the snow to the same hill and caught impressive air on a careening trip to the bottom.

"All the snow comes straight up in my face and I can't see very well," he said.

The hazardous road conditions prompted officials to close the community center and the Issaquah Library, plus Julius Boehm Pool, the day after the storm.

The icy roads and transit delays did not keep everyone from a trip to the office.

Justin Bonz hopped a Metro Transit bus from home in downtown Seattle to the Microsoft campus in Issaquah after a 90-minute wait.

Bonz opted spend to the night at Motel 6 on Nov. 2 J to arrive at the office on time the following morning. The support analyst said the "$50 for a cheap motel gives me the peace of mind to know I can get to work safe.

"I don't intend on missing any work and I just started this job less than three weeks ago," he continued. "So, I am determined to get to work on time."

Issaquah planners and residents said such preparation is important for inclement conditions.

Issaquah Highlands resident Lindsey Walsh, a recent California transplant, readied for the snowstorm like a Pacific Northwest native.

"We got prepared," she said. "I had a snow shovel. I had an ice scraper. I had gloves. I had everything I needed."

HYPOTHERMIA CLAIMS ISSAQUAH-AREA MAN

The recent cold has claimed the life of a 66-year-old Issaquah-area man.

James R. Furseth died Nov. 20 in Issaquah from hypothermia, the King County Medical Examiner's Office reported last week. Temperatures in the Issaquah area dipped to near freezing on the day Furseth died.

The medical examiner's office said Furseth died in a trailer near rural Southeast May Valley Road.

Hypothermia occurs after a person's body temperature has dropped significantly below normal due to inadequate protection against cold.

Temperatures in recent days dipped into the 20s and teens as a fall snowstorm swept into the region.

The cold also claimed a 76-year-old Redmond man, Jerry M. Fitzgerald. Officials said Fitzgerald died from hypothermia Nov. 19.

ONTHEWEB

In addition to a winter weather-centric website www.ci. issaquah. wa. us/winterweather - the city also maintains a radio station, 1700-AM, and emergency phone line, 837-3028, to provide frequent winter storm updates.

Find information about road closures and King County snow-response plans at the county Road Services Division website, www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/roads.aspx.

King County and other regional partners urge residents to Take Winter By Storm through a series of inclement weather-preparedness tips, information and resources. Learn more at the Take Winter By Storm website, www.govlink.org/storm.



Copyright 2010 The Issaquah Press, Issaquah, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 The Issaquah Press Issaquah, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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