The Kenai River has been running high ever since two glacier dammed lakes emptied into the river over the last few days. In the Kenai Keys subdivision near Sterling, the river is lapping at the doorsteps of the hundred or so homes that line the river. Longtime resident Frank Turpin said although he’s seen worse flooding, this one is significant. The road leading into the gated subdivision is flooded in numerous places although some vehicles can still make it through. Neighbors who live on higher ground have offered their yards for people wishing to store cars or other items until the waters recede.
Usually, the Snow Glacier and Skilak lakes release every two or three years. Both at the same time is unprecedented.
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.
The creek slide is the latest environmental incident to strike the Kenai Peninsula this week: a massive landslide in Seward on May 7 continues to block Lowell Point Road, a wildfire broke out near Sportsman’s Landing on May 8 and a separate wildfire broke out on May 10 near Wildman’s.
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.
Rockfall along the Seward Highway near Beluga Point has been happening since wind and rain battered the area earlier this week.
Both sides of Cook Inlet are eroding near Tyonek. The erosion is reaching old and new growth trees, and causing more debris to fall in to the Inlet, which easily get caught in set nets.
Authorities warned that drivers should use caution in the area due to the potential for additional rockslides.
At least one car was on the ramp at the time of the quake, a photo of which circulated on social media Friday morning.
Hazardous driving conditions due to freezing rain.
DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said the weather this week -- alternately freezing and thawing -- was likely the culprit.
A woman was trapped in a pickup on the Seward Highway on Friday after falling ice crushed the vehicle just south of Anchorage.
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