Watch: Landslide sweeps over highway minutes after traffic blocked
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho -- Three minutes after road crews in northern Idaho closed down Highway 95, a massive landslide overtook the road, reports CBS Boise affiliate KBOI-TV.
“It was crazy close timing,” said Jake Melder, Idaho Transportation Department (IDT) spokesman.
Melder said a crew was surveying the highway Friday near Bonners Ferry for possible slide activity when workers heard popping sounds. They immediately shut down the road.
Almost immediately after, a mudslide that ended up being 10 feet deep spewed over the highway.
The IDT tweeted that its crew caught the slide on video:
Crews caught on camera a hillside sliding to cover U.S. 95 near Bonners Ferry. Traffic was blocked just minutes before the ground gave way. pic.twitter.com/jdMCFoIp2U
— ITD (@IdahoITD) April 12, 2017
“That was insane,” one of the crew members can be heard saying on the video.
But the danger remains, Melder says.
“What we’re worried about is continued activity,” he says. “The ground is unstable.”
Rain is expected to hit the region for the next three days. And above the slide area is 18 inches of snow.
“The ground is very wet,” he says.
As of Wednesday, the highway was reduced to one open lane, according to the IDT.