A storm that hit Southcentral Alaska on Saturday night led to flooding in Girdwood, a landslide on the Sterling Highway and left thousands of homes without power throughout the region on Sunday morning. More than a foot of rain fell in Girdwood by Sunday.
Flooding on Willow Creek Saturday night and Sunday has led to seven families being evacuated, with five people taking shelter at the Willow Community Center. The Willow Fire Department, Mat-Su Animal Care and the Mat-Su Water Rescue Team organized to assist those impacted by the flood.
The flooding started when large chunks of ice jammed at Deneki bridge, according to an advisory issued by the National Weather Service.
No one was injured when a car hit a 6-foot-by-8-foot rock that fell from cliffs next to the Seward Highway late Wednesday.
The highway closed after rocks covered the northbound lane at mile 111, near McHugh Creek. A second rock slide was reported near mile 106.5.
While Anchorage was getting hammered by wind, snow was piling up in the Susitna Valley — with a whopping 4 feet of snow at Hatcher Pass, according to a rough estimate.
Rockfall along the Seward Highway near Beluga Point has been happening since wind and rain battered the area earlier this week.
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Authorities warned that drivers should use caution in the area due to the potential for additional rockslides.
It has been a month since the 7.0 earthquake in Anchorage. Are these sinkholes which suddenly appeared related?
Seismologists called the quake the most significant in the state’s largest city since 1964, in terms of how strong the ground itself shook.
At least one car was on the ramp at the time of the quake, a photo of which circulated on social media Friday morning.
State transportation workers found wet ground may have contributed to the small landslide, despite the lack of recent rain.
One reading on the Hillside clocked winds reaching 91 miles per hour. The day saw reports of property damage, road closures and downed power lines.LEO Note: According to Rick Thoman of NWS, these are unusually high winds for April.
The storm that walloped Southcentral Alaska also left about 32 inches of snow in Moose Pass and 30 in Seward.
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."
Anchorage sidewalks were slick with ice and the roads were full of puddles because of unseasonably high temperatures.By mid morning the temperature had reached 46 degrees.
Previously, the dredging started around May and ran through October, but the past three winters it has started earlier and run longer.
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