Nearly as daunting as the Confusion Hill slide on U.S. Highway 101, the slide in Hoopa began about a decade ago and has become worse every year. This year, the rain-saturated slide has become even more problematic.

”The mountain just keeps shifting constantly,” said Jacque Hostler, director of the Hoopa Valley Tribe Road Department.

Left alone, the slide on the road that connects to the Bald Hills Road between Orick and Weitchpec could cut off 85 Hoopa Valley Reservation residents, Hostler said. The tribe has appealed for federal help to begin a permanent treatment for the problem.

But the slide is only one of dozens of washouts on the reservation that have severed roads to and from Hoopa. Like many places in Northern California, the damage is still being assessed. On just the 108 miles of roads that fall under the federal Indian Reservation Roads system the roads department manages, Hostler estimates there has been $8.5 million in damage. Another 500 miles fall under Humboldt County or state jurisdiction.

Particularly problematic: The tribe planned to mine rock for riprap this winter to use for road work, but the storm blew out roads to the reservation's quarries. Its reserve of 2,500 tons of hard rock was nearly depleted before the roads could be repaired. The rock is also important to county road crews working with the tribe to restore roads in steep, erosive country.

Tribal Vice Chairman Billy Colegrove said it might be a year or more before all the roads are repaired.

”It's going to be awhile,” he said.

Colegrove said the tribe has learned from the disaster. People pulled together, he said, when the storm cut off power for four days. More critically, sediment from the swollen Trinity River swamped a new water treatment plant, leaving hundreds without water.

Tribal Civilian Community Corps and AmeriCorps members dug out the 40-foot deep trap by hand. A handful of tribal members, Colegrove said, are still having water-pressure problems.

(As a side note, the Trinity River was expected to severely flood from the New Year's Eve storm, but ended up cresting almost 9 feet below predictions. The National Weather Service said that it believes there is a glitch in its model, which is being reworked.)

Interestingly, Hoopa's rural nature was a benefit in some ways during the storm. Septic systems -- as opposed to a sewage plant -- allowed normal operation despite the water system's malfunction. Many older residents also grew up canning food like salmon, and had food to get them through the week after the storm.

Tribal Planner Mike Hostler said the tribe was well-prepared with manpower and equipment to deal with the initial emergency. But Hostler said the tribe is looking into ways to make its disaster response more efficient, in part by adopting the National Incident Management System that is being mandated after 9/11.

”It's never a complete science,” Mike Hostler said.

The tribe is also considering alternative energy sources for its water system, probably big diesel generators. The Hoopa Wildland Fire Department headquarters could also get generators, Hostler said, to become a base during emergencies.

The winter isn't over. The forecast calls for rain and rain showers that may add up to 3 inches over the next few days, though there may be a three- to four-day dry spell after that. Hoopa can only hope.