Current weather information

SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane residents were trying to dig out Tuesday after a record-breaking month of snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets. Bismarck, N.D., also set a snowfall record.

The center of a snow-laden supermarket roof in north Spokane collapsed Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of that store and adjacent businesses. A fire official said only one minor injury was reported.

Two more collapses were reported Tuesday morning, at a church gymnasium and a hardware store. No one was injured.

The collapses came as Spokane set a monthly record for snowfall, at 59.7 inches, after 8.3 inches were recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch. That’s more snow than the area receives in a typical winter.

The weather service said two more storms were headed to Washington state this week with more gusty winds, significant rain and heavy snow in places, including Spokane.

The city’s previous record of 56.9 inches was set in January 1950. Snowfall records in the area have been kept since 1893, Kelch said.

In Bismarck, the National Weather Service said an overnight storm brought more than 4 inches, bringing the city’s December snow total to 33.3 inches. That tops the record of 31.1 inches set in March 1975.

Juanita Grosz said she didn’t bother to measure the depth of snow at her home in Garrison, northwest of Bismarck.

“It doesn’t matter — I just know that it’s a lot,” Grosz said Tuesday. “Everything is solid white; there isn’t a track anywhere.” But she noted that cell phones, snowmobiles and four-wheel-drive vehicles means “we’re not as immobilized as we were years ago.”

Parts of Minnesota received 9 inches of new snow by morning, and Tuesday marked the 16th day in December in which measurable snow has fallen at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

In Michigan, meanwhile, flood warnings remained in effect Tuesday for areas along most of the Lower Peninsula’s major rivers and streams as crews worked to restore electrical service to thousands left without power since the weekend.

About 19,000 of 183,000 CMS Energy Corp. customers who lost electrical service during Sunday’s storms remained without service at midday Tuesday. About 35,000 of 230,000 DTE Energy Co. customers were also without power.

Both utilities brought in workers from Indiana, Ohio and other states to help restore electricity. The power companies said they expected service to be fully restored by Wednesday.

In Spokane, roads were so clogged that police asked tractor-trailer rig drivers to use chains, after several big trucks became stuck in giant snowbanks. Black ice was also causing numerous accidents on Interstate 90, officials said.

All 90 of Spokane’s plows, sanders and deicers were working to clear arterial streets, leaving residential streets that were still clogged with snow, officials said. Private contractors have also been hired.

The Washington State Patrol responded to about 50 collisions Monday, Trooper Joe Leibrecht said, but no serious injuries were reported.

Natural gas leaks occurred where snow or ice fell and sheared off gas meters. Southwest Airlines canceled some flights at the Spokane airport, and other airlines reported delays.

Elsewhere, an avalanche Monday claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy who was snowmobiling in Summit County, Utah, east of Salt Lake City. Avalanches over the weekend killed a man in north-central Washington State and at least seven snowmobilers in British Columbia’s Elk Valley in western Canada. An eighth snowmobiler in Canada was missing and believed dead.

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Associated Press writers James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., and Jim Irwin in Detroit contributed to this report.

CHICAGO – Midwesterners got ready for the possibility of flooding Sunday as runoff from heavy rain and melting snowbanks bloated streams, and high wind caused new power outages for thousands in Michigan.

Flood warnings were posted Sunday over sections of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and northwest Ohio, the National Weather Service said.

Following a week of heavy snow, ice and subzero temperatures, meteorologists said temperatures would rise into the 30s Sunday in the Chicago area, following Saturday’s high of 61. Farther east, New York City residents relaxed as temperatures headed for the mid 60s Sunday.

In the Chicago suburb of Riverside, authorities encouraged residents along the Des Plaines River to evacuate Saturday night as water rose. The Des Plaines River crested Sunday morning at the city of Des Plaines at nearly 7 feet, the weather service said. Flood stage there is 5 feet.

Des Plaines authorities closed a main road for about 10 hours during the night because of water from an overflowing retention pond, said Don Meseth, director of emergency management for the city of Des Plaines.

“There were a few reports of water in basements,” Meseth said.

In Illinois’ Kane County, several dozen Boy Scouts filled 2,400 sandbags for residents Saturday.

“They’re just concerned with the way we’re going to get this quick melt that all the tributaries are going to fill up,” said troop leader Jeff Koehl.

Some low-lying roads were flooded early Sunday in southwest and central Missouri, the weather service said.

Wind gusted to more than 60 mph Sunday in Michigan, knocking down tree limbs and power lines and blacking out about 355,000 homes and businesses. Parts of the state also got about 4 inches of snow.

“We’ve had an intensifying storm system track northeast through the state,” said Mark Sekelsky, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said about 215,000 of its customers had no electricity Sunday afternoon, and CMS Energy Corp. subsidiary Consumers Energy said about 140,000 of its customers were blacked out.

DTE spokesman Len Singer said more outages were possible and it could be days before power is fully restored. “We’re still assessing,” he said.

On Saturday, a line of powerful thunderstorms swept across a wide swath of the Midwest, packing wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph in Illinois, said weather service meteorologist Patrick Bak. The storms also produced hail and funnel clouds were reported in Missouri.

High wind also blew away a large section of the roof of a school district administrative building in Springfield, Ill.

CHICAGO – Summerlike storms pounded the Midwest on Saturday with hail, high winds and even funnel clouds, helping to thaw the ice after days of a deep freeze and threatening floods.

Residents braced for an aftermath forecast expected to include overflowing rivers and flooded basements. Flooding was also being fueled by unseasonably high temperatures that climbed into the 60s in Illinois.

In Kane County, several dozen Boy Scouts spent Saturday morning filling 2,400 sandbags for residents to pick up as needed outside the Campton Township Highway Department. Scouts shoveled sand into the bags and stacked them in neat piles.

“They’re learning community service,” said troop leader Jeff Koehl, who said authorities sent out an e-mail asking for Scouts to volunteer. “They’re just concerned with the way we’re going to get this quick melt that all the tributaries are going to fill up.”

In the Chicago suburb of Riverside, authorities encouraged residents along the Des Plaines River to evacuate, saying the river was expected to rise to nearly 10 feet by Sunday morning.

Nature dealt Illinois a mixed bag of weather on Saturday, with flood warnings and advisories in the north and tornado watches in the central and southern parts of the state.

A powerful storm system swept across a wide swath of south and central Illinois during the afternoon, packing wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph, said National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Bak. The storms also produced hail, and the Weather Service office in St. Louis received reports of funnel clouds.

The storms damaged buildings and brought down tree limbs and power lines. In Sangamon County, high winds blew off a large section of a school district administrative building roof in Springfield.

In the Chicago area, power restoration was being slowed by flooding at utility substations, said ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick.

Winds knocked out power to more than 60,000 ComEd customers Saturday, Burdick said. Most had power restored by Saturday evening, and crews were working to restore service to the rest.

Thousands of people lost power elsewhere in Illinois.

In Chicago, crews turning Wrigley Field into an ice rink for the upcoming National Hockey League’s Winter Classic removed snow from the stadium Friday. Who knew rain would have washed it away the next day?

Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said Saturday that the agency was in “readiness mode” and making sure local officials are aware of the flooding advisories.

In Cook County, authorities began monitoring river levels Friday and offered sandbags to communities in case they needed to fortify low-lying areas.

Winnebago County in northern Illinois was also offering sandbags to residents concerned about the rising Rock River. Water covered parts of Interstate 80 near the Iowa border Saturday afternoon, forcing the Illinois State Police to close portions of the road and detour traffic.

The Weather Service forecast widespread and “potentially significant” flooding. Meteorologists said the melting snow, heavy rains and frozen ground could combine to flood areas where high water is rare.

“The potential exists for serious and potentially life threatening flooding to develop with some areas that typically do not flood, possibly even becoming inundated with water,” the Weather Service said in an advisory.

The weather caused 90-minute delays at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and forced the cancelation of more than 150 flights. Sunday is expected to be O’Hare’s busiest day of the holiday travel season, aviation officials said.

The National Weather Service also reported Saturday that 2008 has been the wettest year on record for the city of Chicago, with just under 50 inches of precipitation.

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Associated Press writers Karen Hawkins and Rupa Shenoy contributed to this report.

BANGKOK, Thailand – Southeast Asia’s tsunami-ravaged coral reefs have bounced back with surprising speed, according to a study released Friday, four years after the deadly waves hit.

The findings came as communities across the Indian Ocean remembered the disaster that struck Dec. 26, 2004 with prayers, songs and tears. About 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered the tsunami.

Surveys of coral reefs after the tsunami showed that up to one-third were damaged and experts predicted it would take a decade for them to fully recover.

Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, working with the Indonesian government and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said their examination of 60 sites on 497 miles (800 kilometers) of coastline along Indonesia’s Aceh province showed the reefs were bouncing back.

“On the 4th anniversary of the tsunami, this is a great story of ecosystem resilience and recovery,” said Stuart Campbell, coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Marine Program.

“Our scientific monitoring is showing rapid growth of young corals in areas where the tsunami caused damage, and also the return of new generations of corals in areas previously damaged by destructive fishing,” Campbell said in a statement. “These findings provide new insights into coral recovery processes that can help us manage coral reefs in the face of climate change.”

Healthy coral reefs are economic engines for Acehnese communities, Campbell added, supplying fish to eat and sell as well as tourism dollars from recreational diving.

The tsunami decimated coastlines across the Indian Ocean, wiping out villages, killing entire families and crippling the economies in parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The United Nations estimated that Aceh alone lost $332.4 million from the loss of its reefs to the destructive waves.

But four years on, the multibillion dollar rebuilding process is almost complete with more than 120,000 homes built in Aceh alone and the reconstruction of tourist hotels and restaurants along Thailand’s Andaman coast.

Thousands gathered Friday to celebrate the progress but to also remember the dead and reflect on a tragedy that turned their lives upside down.

“I don’t think people will ever forget the tsunami. It changed a lot of people’s lives,” said Alisara Na-Takuatung, a local Phuket radio disc jockey who took part in a ceremony on Thailand’s Patong beach attended by 200 people.

About 50 Buddhist monks prayed while school children played traditional Thai instruments.

“I know people who lost their husbands, their kids. Those people won’t forget about the tsunami,” she said. “They will see it as a lesson. You think about what you can do for others.”

Ibrahim Musa, a 42-year-old civil servant who joined thousands in a prayer service in the hard-hit Aceh province of Indonesia, said it feels like yesterday that his family was taken by the sea.

“Even after four years, I cannot forget how I lost hold of my wife and baby,” he said. “I have tried in vain to look for them for three years. Now I have no choice but to accept their departure as destiny.”

Siti Hasnaini, 40, who still lives with her two sons and husband in a temporary shelter in Aceh, prayed “for my daughter who was washed away with my house.”

In India, where thousands also perished, interfaith prayers and a moment of silence were held. The Sri Lankan government declared two minutes of silence for the 35,000 people killed there as well as other victims of natural disasters.

The healing trend embraced by those devastated by the tsunami has extended to the reefs with communities responding to calls to protect them from illegal fishing, pollution and coastal development.

Campbell said citizens have been particularly responsive in Aceh where fishermen have stopped using illegal techniques like dynamite and villagers have transplanted corals into areas that were hardest hit.

“The recovery, which is in part due to improved management and the direct assistance of local people, gives enormous hope that coral reefs in this remote region can return to their previous condition and provide local communities with the resources they need to prosper,” Campbell said.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a reef expert from the University of Queensland in Australia who did not take part in the study, said the findings were not surprising since corals typically will recover if not affected by fishing and coastal development.

“The mechanical damage from the tsunami left a whole bunch of shattered corals on the bottom of the sea,” Hoegh-Guldberg said.

“Left alone, these things can quickly grow back into what looks like a coral reef in a short time,” he said. “We are seeing similar things around the southern Great Barrier Reef where reefs that experience major catastrophe can bounce back quite quickly.”

John Bruno, a reef expert from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, agreed saying it shows coral reefs are able to recover after severe disturbances.

“There has been so much bad news about coral decline lately, and the threats to corals seem to increase every year. It is important to recognize that these invaluable ecosystems are not lost,” he said in an e-mail interview. “We just have to implement some common sense policies locally and substantially reduce emissions of greenhouse gases at a global scale.”

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Associated Press Writer Fachrurradize Gade contributed to this report from Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

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On The Web:

Wildlife Conservation Society: http://www.wcs.org

HARRIMAN, Tenn. – An earthen dam holding back a retention pond broke early Monday at a power plant run by the nation’s largest public utility, releasing a frigid mix of water, ash and mud that damaged 12 homes and put hundreds of acres of rural land under water.

The 40-acre pond was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority to hold a slurry of ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman, about 50 miles west of Knoxville, said TVA spokesman Gil Francis. The dam gave way just before 1 a.m, burying a road and railroad tracks leading to the plant under several feet of dark gray mud.

Authorities said no one was seriously injured or hospitalized.

Investigators were trying to determine exactly what caused the breach, but the TVA spokesman said heavy rains and freezing temperatures may be to blame. Forecasters said the overnight temperature dropped to 14 degrees in Harriman and Francis said there had been 4.9 inches of rain this month so far compared to 2.8 inches in a typical December.

“I am still in shock,” said Crystell Flinn, 49, whose ranch-style house was pushed off its foundations and driven more than 30 feet onto a road. “I don’t think it really has hit me yet.”

Flinn was traveling back from Knoxville when a friend called her cell phone to say she had heard that the flood hit Flinn’s house and that her 53-year-old husband James Schean was trapped inside.

Schean escaped cold and shaken but not injured. Flinn told his story while he slept at a temporary shelter at a community college.

Schean, a boilermaker at the TVA plant, was in bed when he “heard a loud clap like thunder,” she said. Pieces of the ceiling began falling, wood was popping, glass breaking and furniture falling. And then the house started to move.

“He didn’t know what was going on,” his wife said. “He couldn’t see anything. He had to tear one door off the hinges to get out of the bedroom, and he couldn’t get out the front door so he had to kick out a window.”

Flinn cried as she looked at aerial photographs of the home, which she and Schean had spent the past 3 1/2 years remodeling and recently filled with Christmas presents.

“I seriously doubt they will let us (rebuild),” Flinn said. After losing another house on the same property to fire 20 years ago, “I am not sure we want to,” she said. “The next time we might not make it out.”

Emergency workers rescued people from two partially collapsed homes and used four-wheel drive vehicles to help others who couldn’t get out of their driveways, said Roane County Rescue Squad spokesman Brian Grief.

Officials originally said 15 homes were flooded, but Francis later said 12 homes had been damaged to some degree. Flinn’s house was the worst hit.

Only Flinn’s family came to the emergency shelter, which closed later Monday. TVA offered them and others needing help motel rooms.

Francis said 30 pieces of heavy equipment and nearly 100 people were involved in the cleanup effort. He said water flow through a dam on the Clinch River — which flows into the Tennessee River — has been reduced to prevent pollution from runoff from the flood.

Howie Rose, the director of the Roane County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said a train carrying coal to the plant reached the point on the tracks that was covered in mud and couldn’t go forward or back up. He said authorities were trying to assist the train.

The broken dike left about 4 to 5 feet of water and mud over 250 to 400 acres, Francis said. The Environmental Protection Agency was notified.

The pond is used for dumping a slurry of waste from burning coal at the steam plant, Francis said. TVA will check for signs of problems at its 10 other coal-fired plants, most of which were built in the 1950s.

“They’re going to look at that for sure, but we have not had one of these (breaks) like this anywhere,” Francis said.

Knoxville-based TVA supplies electricity to 8.8 million consumers in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.