Harsh Winter Wreaking Havoc on Spokane, Wash.

Jeff Hastings, a mental health counselor, said people's emotional reserves are becoming drained.

Ben Tobin, right, and Jamie Schmidt remove a snow berm left in their driveway by snowplows in Spokane, Wash. on yesterday.

(Young Kwak/AP Photo)

"Then people get angry and irritable and depressed and feel anxiety," Hastings said. "They feel overwhelmed."

Treacherous roads are a major complaint. Many are covered with ice, heavily rutted and reduced to one lane by piles of plowed snow.

Mayor Mary Verner said the city is spending an estimated $150,000 a day to operate plows around the clock.

Downtown, snow has been piled in the middle of streets in hills that are taller than adults and give the impression of driving in giant slots.

Driving conditions are so bad that most of the region's malls closed early the weekend before Christmas because employees and customers could not reach them. Employers continued to have problems on Tuesday, especially big box stores with flat roofs. Several checked by The Associated Press were closed on Tuesday.

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The winter break for schoolchildren started two days early, on Dec. 17, because of snow, and school had been scheduled to resume on Monday before Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich; pointing to a "once in a lifetime winter;" took the unprecedented step of recommending schools remain closed because children could not travel safely.

To the relief of parents, classes did resume on Tuesday, creating gridlock on the streets as school buses, private vehicles and walkers competed for space on roads because sidewalks remain buried.

Weight on roofs is a major problem. The National Weather Service has estimated that the existing snow is placing a load of about 25 pounds per square foot roof on roofs designed to hold 30 to 40 pounds. Rain forecast to follow the snow this week will add significant new weight, the agency said.

That has created a brisk market for day laborers willing to go up on roofs and shovel snow off for at least $15 per hour.

Rising temperatures were already melting snow and creating rivers of water Tuesday afternoon, promising some relief.

"I'm sick of it and ready for it to melt," said Joe Olney, 19, a store clerk.

But two women who work at the Chocolate Apothecary in downtown Spokane have found a coping mechanism.

"We are surrounded by chocolate," said owner Susan Davis. "It's all good in here."

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