Cars half-submerged in Bonneville County parking lot
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OSGOOD — A parking lot near the Osgood exit off Interstate 15 is flooded, and cars there are half-submerged.
Water has entered the cars parked there due to the rapid snowmelt.
Witness say the flooding happened in the last two hours. The water level is getting higher.
Snow across the interstate is melting, going through a drainage culvert, and flowing into the parking lot.
The lot is actually an Idaho Department of Transportation property and is meant for drainage. Those parking there are Idaho National Laboratory employees.
They said it’s an INL-approved lot — they get picked up by a bus nearby — and were never told the property was actually intended as a drainage area.
About six vehicles were in the lot, and tow trucks were getting them out late Thursday afternoon. As of 5:30 p.m., only one car was in the water.
Austin Muir, who owns one of the cars, was wading through the water to help get the others out.
“I was already wet,” he said.
CORRECTION:A previous version of this article identified the parking lot as being in Jefferson County. That is incorrect. Maps show it is actually just barely in Bonneville County. EastIdahoNews.com apologizes for the error.