BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - Winds flooded a small neighborhood northwest of here with tumbleweeds Tuesday, covering sheds, burying mailboxes and blocking driveways.

Residents on Shooting Star Lane in the Springhill area were forced to use snowplows and pitchforks to clear the debris.

Cindy Bowker, who has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years, awakened to find tumbleweeds surrounding her home, blanketing her back deck and windows.

She had to tunnel through the weeds from her front door to her two-car garage and driveway.

"Both garages were covered," Bowker said. "We got the real dense stuff out and just drove through it. It was up over the headlights. It was all the way up the steps and covered our front door."

A few residents of the seven-home cul-de-sac blamed a 160-acre farm northeast of them for the tumbleweed problem. Half of the farm's crop went bad last year, and the weeds sprouted on about 80 acres, Bowker said.

Across the street from Bowker, Hank and Jan Mueller's snowmobile, shed and camper were awash with weeds. Their driveway also was covered.

"We've had blizzards up here, but this was not like anything we have ever seen," Jan Mueller said.

Hank Mueller used his snow plow to clear his and four other driveways.

In the afternoon, neighbors gathered with pitchforks and rakes and helped one another clean up debris.

"It's just a nice neighborhood," Jan Mueller said, adding that residents there have known one another for years. "We help each other out."

Figuring out what to do with the weeds will be a whole other problem.

Having a company shred them and haul them away costs about $150 an hour, Bowker said. Nothing was damaged, so insurance companies probably won't cover the cost.

"I was gonna put lights on them for Christmas," Mueller said.

Other neighbors have discussed finding large trucks or farm equipment and hauling away the weeds themselves.

"This would fill I don't know how many semis," Bowker said.