Alaska May 17 (US): Ice jams that shut down two Alaskan rivers over the weekend have broken out, unleashing a wave of ice and water that has caused major flooding, damaged homes and left behind massive chunks of ice up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) high. ).
Floodwater levels on the Yukon River have peaked at or near a record level in the small community of Circle and are the highest level since 1945, said Mike Otenweiler, a forecaster with the Alaska-Pacific River Prediction Center. He said the floods could continue over the next few weeks as more snow melts.
The waters rose quickly on Saturday before retreating on Sunday on the Yukon River in the state’s east and the Kuskokwim River in the southwest, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Associated Press (AP) reports that homes have been lifted off foundations, smashed with ice, or flooded in communities like Circle and Crooked Creek.
Governor Mike Donlevy issued a disaster declaration for the Yukon River communities in Circle and Eagle, as well as Crooked Creek on Kuskokwim and Glennallen on the Cooper River.
Ice jam flooding in the spring isn’t unusual in Alaska, but this year the risk was higher.
“The combination of a cold April and deep snowpack really holds the dice,” said Rick Thomann, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Center for Arctic Research.
However, Thomann said this type of flooding is expected to become less common in the next few decades as the springs warm.
Diane Olmsted, a teacher at Circle, said it only took about 10 minutes for the cold flood waters to rise to a height of 30 centimeters after they started creeping toward the school around 8 p.m. And bring them to school. By 9:30 p.m., the water had begun to “recede dramatically almost as it rose,” she said.
Olmsted’s car was destroyed, and most of her belongings were lost. She said she wept as she inspected the damage in the community, which included a house near the river that was swept away and at least seven others that fell off their foundations and were struck by ice.
Jeremy Zedek, a spokesman for the state’s Office of Emergency Management, said authorities were aware that at least three homes had been demolished from their foundations and damage assessments were under way.
No one was hurt but emergency officials were working to get generators, backup communications systems and clean drinking water to the village of about 75 people, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Fairbanks.
Zedek said recovery will be difficult at Circle and Crooked Creek.
“There is a lot of ice that has been deposited on the roads and within the community and we are talking about huge chunks of ice, some of them up to 12 feet high,” he said.
Most of the 90 residents of Crooked River have been evacuated to the village school on higher ground, Zedek said.
However, the rising waters left 12 people stranded on the second floor of a house, Zedek said. An Alaska National Guard helicopter was called in to help, but a nearby Donlin Gold Project helicopter managed to fly over and rescue three stranded residents. The others got into a boat just as the flood began to recede.
Zaydek did not immediately have an estimate of the number of homes that had been damaged.
River forecaster Ottweiler said the water level in the Crooked River was 5 feet (1.5 meters) higher than it was in 2011, the year with the largest floods the village has seen in recent decades.
WWA