Valley copes with brutal winter weather assault

January 11, 2023 by Marcy Stamper

Snow, cold, rain, ice take their toll

Aero Methow Rescue Service offers one suggestion on its reader board: "Just Stay Home."

Frigid temperatures that rivaled a 40-year-old record, exceptional amounts of snow, and a warm front that saturated the snow with rain have toppled century-old trees, crumpled buildings, caused power outages, and frozen water pipes throughout the valley.

In Twisp, a venerable old tree was resting precariously on the roof of a house. The sidewalk awning on the building that houses Red Umbrella Designs and the Winthrop Gallery was sagging perilously on Sunday morning and compromising the building façade. It has since been propped up with metal jacks, allowing business to resume until a more permanent repair in the spring.

At TwispWorks, Facilities Manager Amanda Chapman was clearing snow from roofs to prevent leaks. She also picked up bricks from an old chimney that landed on a car used in the auto repair program at the Independent Learning Center.

The required snow load for roofs in Okanogan County varies by area. It's 85 pounds in Mazama, but only 30 pounds in the Okanogan Valley, Okanogan County Building Official Dan Higbee said. The requirement was increased after the winter of 1996, he said.

A barn on Lower Beaver Creek Road that dates to the early 20th century succumbed under the weight of the snow this weekend. Several carports and overhangs collapsed.

People need to be alert, because roof lines dump onto walkways and cars. "It's essentially like being in an avalanche," Aero Methow Rescue Service Deputy Director Justin Porter said.

In Okanogan, half of the Okanogan Valley Orchestra & Chorus headquarters collapsed. Their costume collection was in the other part of the building and was unharmed, the organization said. Also in the Okanogan, the longstanding Malott Improvement Club buckled under the weight of the snow.

Before the rain, the snow weighed between 38 and 40 pounds per square foot, Higbee said. But the recent moisture caused the same amount to tip the scales at around 60 pounds.

Added stresses

The cold and snow are creating added stresses for people who already live on the edge. Even before the winter, Room One was helping people address leaky roofs and poor insulation, Direct Service Co-Lead Erin Flahive said.

"While these are things we navigate to a degree every winter, we have been supporting more folks navigating having their power shut-off, very large utility bills, burst water pipes, difficulty staying warm, leaky roofs, and large bills all around with food costs and gas," she said.

People have been trading tactics on social media for the best way to deal with ice dams, ranging from scattering ice melt on the roof to strategically positioning tube socks to create a channel of melted ice.

Power outages

Crews from the Okanogan County Electric Co-operative (OCEC) were out all weekend responding to "very consistent smaller outages," OCEC General Manager Greg Mendonca said.

Most outages were caused by trees leaning or falling on equipment, or by snow unloading on powerlines. When that happens, it activates the protective equipment until a crew member can ensure it's safe to turn the power back on, Mendonca said.

The most significant outages, both for OCEC and the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD), occurred on Twisp River Road. As soon as they cleared one tree, another down the road fell, PUD Public Relations Coordinator Sheila Corson said.

The deep snow makes everything take longer, since utilities often have to clear a route to reach the powerline. OCEC crews have a tracked all-terrain vehicle to get as close as possible, but they sometimes snowshoe the rest of the way to make a repair, Mendonca said.

Freeze affects school water tank

The resumption of school after the two-week winter break was at risk of postponement when the bitter cold weather burst pipes and incapacitated the water system that serves the entire campus. After school district employees and contractors spent hours resolving the problems, classes started again on Jan. 2, right on schedule.

A teacher who was in Methow Valley Elementary School to work on lesson plans over the winter break discovered an inch of water on the floor in the cafeteria and in nearby classrooms and offices, Operations Director Bud Hover said.

But even after the pipes were repaired, there was still no water flowing to either the elementary or high school. Both buildings are served by the massive water tank on a hill above the campus, which holds a two- to three-week water supply, Hover said.

After the steep road was plowed, Hover, school employees, and Russ Thomas, owner of Cascade Columbia Plumbing, went up to check the tank.

It took Thomas and the other workers several hours with a blowtorch to melt 20 inches of ice to remove the bolts that secure the entry hatch at the bottom of the tank. Once inside the tank, they spent more hours chipping, drilling and melting thick ice. "It was pretty creepy to be in there — I’ll be honest," Thomas said. In a video he made of the process, Thomas can be heard saying, "That chunk of ice, right there, is big enough to kill you."

A float valve normally fills the tank automatically, but since all the water drained out of the tank after the pipes in the school burst, the residual water iced over and broke the valve. More ice clogged the inlet at the base of the tank, preventing them from pumping more water. Until they replace the float valve, the school can fill the tank manually, Hover said.

Frozen pipes in Winthrop

The Rocking Horse Bakery in Winthrop has had less luck resolving its water problems.

The bakery has been closed throughout the winter holiday season, since they discovered on Dec. 20 that they had no water, building owner Mark Westerfield said last week.

Westerfield and his wife, Carolyn Mistell, sold the bakery to their son Christopher Westerfield in October, but they still own the building that houses the bakery and Lariat Coffee Roasters.

Mark Westerfield estimated that the bakery has lost $70,000 in sales, $47,000 in December alone. Although the bakery carries insurance for lost revenue, it typically covers only a week to 10 days, he said.

In interviews with the Methow Valley News, Westerfield and town officials provided somewhat different accounts of the water problems at the bakery.

His son has been a baker for 30 years and knew to leave the water dripping, Westerfield said. They also set up small heaters throughout the building, he said.

When the town first learned about the water problems at the Rocking Horse a few days before Christmas, the water was flowing to the meter behind the bakery building, indicating that the frozen section was somewhere within the building, Winthrop Public Works Director Jeff Sarvis said.

But last week, Thomas of Cascade Columbia Plumbing investigated. He told the Methow Valley News there appeared to be a blockage between the town water main and the meter.

Winthrop supplies all businesses and residences from a well on Twin Lakes Road, Winthrop Mayor Sally Ranzau said. The water is pumped through a main-line pipe that crosses the Methow River bridge and then runs 5 feet under Riverside Avenue.

Residences and businesses get their water through lateral service lines that connect to the town's water main, and property owners are responsible for maintaining their own service lines. The town maintains the main water pipe, Ranzau said.

The lateral lines sometimes freeze in winter, particularly since there's less insulation where they cross under the boardwalk, Ranzau said. To encourage people to leave a faucet dripping to help prevent problems, the town charges only the base rate for water during the winter, she said.

This winter, the town has helped several residents and businesses thaw their water meters, Ranzau said. "We don't ignore people — Public Works is very responsive," she said. But Winthrop has to be careful about the help they provide — assisting a property to dig up a service line would constitute a gift of public funds, Ranzau said.

Westerfield said last week that he was researching the bakery's options, including disconnecting from city water and bringing in another source. "We have to do something — we’re going to lose our employees because they have to have income. We’re kind of at a dead end. The city can't, or won't, do anything," he said.

Property owners can make repairs to their lines, but need permission to dig in the street, Sarvis said. The town tries to make the process as simple as possible. "We have a lot of compassion here. Whether it's a business or residence, folks need water," he said.

The town insists the system is functioning. "The Town of Winthrop Water Mains have running water and are working properly. Individual feeder lines from water mains to homes and businesses are considered private property. These are the responsibility of property owners to maintain," Ranzau said this week in an official statement.

Frozen pipes are not uncommon in Winthrop. In the winter of 2017, business owners complained to the town council after more than two dozen pipes had frozen, according to an article in the Methow Valley News. A town ordinance makes maintenance of water service lines the owners’ responsibility, the former mayor said at the time.

The bakery's employees are now in their third week without pay. Although they’re helping them with unemployment claims, Westerfield worries that the workers will look other jobs.

Despite his exasperation, Westerfield said he's determined to find a solution. "We’re pretty creative. We don't give up on stuff," he said. Mistell said this week that they will be repairing the water line.

Plumber shortages

Thomas and other plumbers in the valley have been overwhelmed by calls from people with no water. As soon as they see water coming into their house, some people call a plumber, even though the leak could be caused by an ice dam on the roof, as opposed to a plumbing problem, Thomas said. He speculated that people who’ve moved to the valley in the past few years may not know the precautions to take to mitigate the effects of extreme cold.

At Methow Plumbing, owner Tiago Pacheco set up an automatic email reply that says, "We are at capacity" and is unable to schedule any new customers until February. Thomas — who has a full-time crew of four people — has a waiting list of 50 people.

If someone has frozen pipes and no running water, there's not much a plumber can do — people need to warm the pipes to thaw them. If a pipe bursts, a plumber can usually get in to fix it, Thomas said.

Although leaving a faucet dripping usually provides protection from freezing, it sometimes creates other problems. Thomas helped one homeowner who had left water running, only to find that the stream of cold water froze his sewer line. Septic systems are less apt to freeze, since solids generate heat as they break down, Thomas said.

Help available

A woman from Winthrop said she helped friends shovel snow at the public housing apartments in Twisp, where large piles of snow had slid off the roof, blocking doors and windows. Some of the residents were doing their own shoveling, but others are older or have disabilities, she said. Room One also helps people with snow removal from roofs.

The PUD makes payment arrangements with any customer, Corson said. Although the PUD has a weekly disconnect list, its customer service team doesn't disconnect a service if the forecast is for even high temperatures to be below freezing. The PUD contacts customers to work out payment plans or connect them with other assistance, she said.

Room One has funding to assist people with utility bills, but it's generally available only once per season. Other social-service agencies, such as The Cove and Okanogan County Community Action Council, also help with utilities and other emergencies.

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