Anchorage experiences unprecedented rainfall, leading to road closures and flood advisories due to overflowing creeks and waterlogged streets.
All schools in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough are closed Wednesday due to slick roads across the region, as snowfall continues. “This is the heaviest snowfall the Anchorage area has seen in over 20 years,” said state Department of Transportation spokesman Justin Shelby. “Our crews are keeping up as best they can.”
Light rain is expected to fall across much of the region Tuesday, with a storm possibly bringing more rain to Anchorage on Wednesday.
Communities along the lower Kuskokwim River and coastal areas in Western Alaska assess damage from recent storms, with flooding and erosion impacting homes and infrastructure, and a new storm potentially exacerbating conditions.
During a community meeting, Chevak residents said better emergency planning should be a long-term priority. For now, though, assessing damage is the focus.
A landslide in Wrangell, Alaska, killed three people, destroyed homes, and left three missing after heavy rainfall triggered the disaster.
Mat-Su schools will be closed Tuesday due to a blizzard causing power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
Bethel Search and Rescue advises against travel on the Kuskokwim River due to dangerous conditions of open water and thin ice identified in their annual aerial survey.
Just this month, more than 23 inches of snow have fallen in Anchorage, 17.5 inches above normal. A weekend storm clogged Anchorage streets, creating hazardous road conditions. The Anchorage School District closed school buildings and canceled after-school activities, calling a remote learning day.
Safeway on Mill Bay Road is the only large grocery store on the island. And store management expected the barge to bypass Kodiak after its last visit, with a resupply stop scheduled ahead of this past weekend. But snowstorms and gusty weather, including hurricane-force winds, scuttled those plans. “In my entire career, I’ve never seen two successive bypasses,” said Mike Murray, the store director of Kodiak’s Safeway.
Road crews say they’re still working to fully carve out the streets and haul snow away, after the city was hit with a trio of major storms this month. Some of Anchorage’s roads are maintained by the state of Alaska, and others by the city.
Anchorage and Mat-Su Borough schools and state offices are closed Thursday as a third major winter storm this month coated the area with snow overnight Wednesday. “In the past 11 days, we’ve had 41.1 inches of snow which is a lot for Anchorage,” Baines said.
A culvert collapse closed the road at Mile 8 from 9 p.m. Friday until one lane reopened at 10 a.m. Sunday. The culvert was washed out by heavy snowmelt.
A historically powerful storm slammed into Western Alaska Friday night and into Saturday, bringing major flooding and high winds to a huge swath of coastal communities. By Saturday evening, the state said it had received no reports of injuries or deaths related to the storm. But damage had torn across hundreds of miles of Alaska’s coastline impacting communities all along the way. Alaskans described water flooding homes and roads. Wind tore off roofs. Houses floated off their foundations. Boats sank.
No residents had been reported injured or missing, and power had been restored to most impacted homes. City officials had also carved a path so residents can travel in the area by snowmachine.
Extreme winds and cold temperatures have affected the areas. At one point over the weekend, 20,000 households in Mat-Su lost power.
“Whatever led up to the situation where all the sudden we don't have any fuel in the dead of winter, and with all these storms coming through, is beyond me,” said St. George resident Victor Malavansky. “I would like to say this is totally unacceptable.”
An amber rain warning has been extended for the north and east of Scotland, causing severe flooding and travel disruptions, with the Scottish government urging people to heed travel warnings and take precautions. Some areas have seen up to a month's worth of rain in a 24-hour period resulting in heavy flooding across much of the rail network.
Heavy rains toppled trees and buried roads on Prince of Wales Island Monday. Local and state transportation crews are responding to at least seven landslides blocking roads on the Southeast Alaska island.
Passengers weren't harmed, but a brown bear cub was orphaned.
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