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ONTARIO, Ore. (AP) — Residents in a rural stretch of southeastern Oregon along the Idaho border are struggling with more than 3 feet of snow on the ground after a storm earlier this week.
The blizzard that ended Thursday added about 15 inches to a region already clogged by snow from earlier storms. The combined snow totals have caused the roofs of about 100 commercial buildings, barns, garages and storage units to collapse, said Lt. Rob Hunsucker, the emergency manager with the Malheur County Sheriff's Department.
Since the snow started accumulating earlier this month, two buildings that are part of the Malheur County Fairgrounds have caved in, according to the Argus Observer (http://bit.ly/2j3ggkD ). No homes have been damaged so far, Hunsucker said.
A team of 200 volunteers was mobilizing to shovel snow off the roofs of the elderly and disabled, Hunsucker said.
County offices were shut down for the second day Friday as snow plows ran out of places to stack the snow cleared from roads.
Heavy snows aren't unusual in the area, but Hunsucker said in the 59 years he's lived in the area, he's never seen snow like this.
The county may get up to six more inches through Sunday, according to Josh Smith, a meteorologist with the Boise, Idaho office of the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, no trace of snow remained in Portland after warmer weather and rain melted it away starting Wednesday.
Portland had been crippled by a storm that dumped up to a foot of snow in some parts of the city.
The storm was followed by freezing temperatures that left the city's streets icy and rutted for nearly a week, drawing anger from residents.
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