Schools in Glennallen have been closed for the second day on Tuesday. The public sewer system has been shut down because the massive runoff of snowmelt into creeks continues to cause flooding in the town.
Glennallen is about 180 miles to the north of Anchorage located in the northeast of Anchorage, and is among many Alaska communities affected by flooding caused by breakups on creeks and rivers. Ice jams also have caused massive floods throughout Interior as well as Southwest Alaska communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. warnings for flooding remain in place on for the entire regions.
Officials claim that the floodwaters have already ripped some structures off their foundations and submerged other areas. Photographs also show floodwaters flooding streets and airstrips. There have been no reports of injuries.
In Glennallen, the utility is planning to set up Porta-Potties in the area and residents in the community are being asked to limit their the use of water. The department of transportation for the state stated that water was present on part on Glenn Highway on Monday. Glenn Highway this morning, however the road was still in good condition.
The Bureau of Land Management field office was among the buildings in the area that were which were submerged. BLM spokesperson Scott Claggett said the office is now closed until the next notice.
“BLM Glennallen’s field office has been inundated with water, and power and sewage is currently out of service,” Claggett said. “It is in the process of becoming a crisis.”
The BLM hopes to resume a certain levels of operations in Glennallen in the near future, however the damage to wells and water sources will require a thorough assessment.
“We do have generators that are portable along with portable restrooms” Claggett added. “We’re taking a look at the options available to ensure we’re able to provide functional availability as fast as we can.”
Within the Upper Yukon River village Circle, approximately 400 miles to the north, the recovery from the weekend floods continues.
Kyle Wright, the environmental health director of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, said the damage from ice and water is similar to the historic breakup floods which struck Eagle in the year 2009, and Galena the year before. Wright claimed that many houses within the Circle were affected.
“There was at the very least one of them that was carried completely away and there were other that were – and there are many more – that were moved and are damaged beyond fix,” Wright said.
Wright stated that the community also has seen massive damage to the structures and infrastructure.
“They don’t have electricity; the generators were inundated,” he said. “The clinic is relatively new, was constructed within the last couple of years, saw the insulation get saturated, which means it will need to be cleaned. The water plant was able to hold approximately a foot and a fifty percent of the water in it. The store appeared to have was flooded to about 6 or 8 feet deep and was pretty well submerged. The tribal office and hall were filled with water gushing through it. I’m aware that the teacher’s housing was submerged and looked as if the school also got flooded.”
Heating oil, as well as the sewage discharges pose a threat to the well of the community will have to be cleaned, Wright said. Wright said that there is a Tanana Chiefs Conference has sent out bottles of water, and the village has a fully-stocked tank of water storage.
“So they have a reservoir of drinking water that is safe,” said the man. “It’s slightly more difficult to access since there’s no power for these pumps.”
Therefore the restoration of power in Circle is an important goal the president said.
“The Alaska Energy Authority has been working with the village in this regard and plans to send some generators to power the village temporarily,” he said.
Wright claimed that the tribe performed a great job exiled elders and children from the village. It’s not known the number of people who are living in Circle that had an official number of 42 people in the census in 2020.
Residents can come and go, as residents are able to move around as Steese Highway out of Circle remains open according to Wright despite one area where water is across the road that is gravel.
The ice jam continues to threaten communities along the Yukon River. National Weather Service hydrologist Ed Plumb stated that Fort Yukon suffered some flooding late on Sunday.
“We received reports of water on roads, and homes and structures getting water in them.” Plumb said.
Plumb claimed that the villages further downstream are experiencing the same issue of ice and water from what he said was “about 40 miles of frozen ice.”
An River Watch Team from the weather service is scheduled to take off across Stevens Village, the Rampart Canyon, Tanana and Galena on Tuesday.
In Southwest Alaska, a flurry of snowfall late in the season on Tuesday halted surveillance of the airborne Lower Kuskokwim River, said Dave Strubel who is a hydrologist working for the Weather Service’s River Forecast Center in Anchorage.
The area that is most concerned Strubel stated is the stretch of river between Kalskag to Bethel near the river’s mouth. These areas could see flooding from ice jams in the next few days or, he added.
He noted that the the heavy snowfall in winter has played a significant role in the extent of this year’s breakup and the ice jams.
“That is, in conjunction with the cold spring, is creating an chain reaction, so to describe, of a lot of snow, and then all suddenly, it’s melts all in one go,” he said.
According to Strubel The ice jam issue on the Kuskokwim will ease in a few days, and then the Yukon in 7-10 days.
