Authorities warned that drivers should use caution in the area due to the potential for additional rockslides.
Areas of the Southeast Alaska city “received between 3 and 7 inches of rain” in 24 hours over the weekend. The sodden ground caused mudslides in some areas, and wrecked roads and ditches around John Street and Peters Lane in Douglas.
Temperatures in the area were unseasonably high last week, reaching into the mid-40s, according to the National Weather Service. Then temperatures dropped below freezing Sunday and into Monday morning. "There's a lot of water flowing underground in this area," McCarthy said. The freeze-thaw "caused some instability and that made it slide."
The avalanche north of Girdwood affected three lanes of traffic for several hours. Delays are expected Tuesday morning as crews attempt to thwart additional slides.
When 200 million metric tons of rock tumbled down a remote Southeast Alaska mountain in October, nobody was around to see it. But thanks to a beefed-up seismic network and a new system that can distinguish landslides from earthquakes, scientists knew it had happened.
Of the 140 unstable slopes along the 92-mile park road, Pretty Rocks has the most potential to disrupt traffic.
About 145 customers in the area were without power on Friday due to damaged equipment, according to Matanuska Electric Association. It’ll likely be at least several days before the road may be cleared.
“This has been a very trying time,” mother Tanisha Charles said. “You don’t prepare for this. You think of fires, you think of earthquakes, but you never think of a mudslide in the middle of town.”
The avalanche came after two days of heavy snow followed by two days of heavy rain. The community had to wait several days before linemen could get to Chignik to repair the damage to its power system.
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