Ice storm paralyzes region

Photo: The Canadian Press

Traffic is diverted off Interstate 90 before Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday.

An ice storm shut down major highways Wednesday in Oregon and Washington and paralyzed towns in the Columbia River Gorge with up to two inches of ice at the same time rising temperatures in Portland raised the prospect of flooding after the largest snowstorm in years.

As temperatures hovered around freezing, Interstate 84 was shut down for about 45 miles in an area northeast of Portland and again farther east due to blizzard conditions. Transportation officials had no immediate plans to reopen the highway connecting Oregon and Idaho.

Officials warned Idaho motorists not to head west toward Oregon on the highway where dozens of semi-trucks with no place to go were lined up and double-parked along ramps near the point of the closure.

"They just towed me out because they want to clear the road, but I don't think I-84 is back open," said Brad Cottle, a trucker who got stuck in the mess and spent the night in his cab. "I'm going to have to go back to the truck stop."

It was the latest weather drama in Oregon, which has been pummeled in recent weeks by intense snowfall and uncharacteristically cold temperatures.

Four homeless people have died of exposure in Portland. Schools have been closed for days throughout the state and businesses shuttered. Portland's streets remained coated with a thick layer of rutted ice for almost a week until Wednesday, when rain began to melt the snow.

Portland generally doesn't use salt on its roads during winter weather but experimented with it in specific locations after a storm last month left commuters trapped in their cars for hours.

Melting snow and heavy rain caused sewage to overflow in several locations into the Willamette River on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. People were urged to avoid the river for two days after the overflow ends because of increased bacteria in the water.

Bonneville, on the Washington state side of the Columbia River, had two inches of ice, and Hood River, on the Oregon side, got 1.5 inches, said Andy Bryant, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service office in Portland.

Interstate 90, the main highway connecting western and eastern Washington, was to remain closed over Snoqualmie Pass because of hazardous winter conditions. Crews will re-evaluate the roadway Thursday morning.