A small Inupiat village in northwest Alaska is dealing with widespread flooding after melting ice blocked a nearby river, causing water to spill into the town.
ANCHORAGE â An ice jam has caused widespread flooding in the community of Buckland, in northwest Alaska, officials said Thursday. Even using hip waders, I can t leave my house because the water is too deep, said Nathan Hadley Jr., the vice mayor of Buckland. He called the flooding the worst he s seen in two decades there. Most of the town has been inundated, and the access road to the airport has been cut off by the floodwaters, said Scott Berg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
There are volunteers using boats to take people around town, to the store and to deliver people to the air strip or pick them up for one of the two daily flights into town, Hadley said.
Widespread flooding reported in northwest Alaska community
by Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press
Posted May 13, 2021 6:09 pm EDT
Last Updated May 13, 2021 at 6:15 pm EDT
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) An ice jam has caused widespread flooding in the community of Buckland, in northwest Alaska, officials said Thursday.
“Most of the town has been inundated, and the access road to the airport has been cut off by the floodwaters,” said Scott Berg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
The ice jam on the Buckland River is about a quarter-mile below the community.
National Weather Service and local officials anticipate the water levels will stay high and fluctuate a little until the ice jam breaks, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
River breakup cuts off Tuluksak’s temporary source of drinking water Published May 6
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Print article BETHEL A Southwest Alaska village that lost its water plant in a fire will be without its temporary water treatment plant during river breakup. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. installed a temporary water treatment system for Tuluksak in March that pipes water from the Tuluksak River, but the system cannot withstand ice floes released during breakup, KYUK Public Media reported. Plans call for reinstalling the system once the river ice is gone. Until then, Tuluksak can store water in large tanks.
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] The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management this week said it was providing 10 pallets of bottled water, weighing nearly 11,000 pounds, that would be stored at the school. The agency said Tuluksak also has designated the school as a shelter location, if needed, for any flooding during the spring river breakup.
Breakup disrupts Alaska village s temporary water treatment
May 6, 2021
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BETHEL, Alaska (AP) A southwest Alaska village that lost its water plant in a fire will be without its temporary water treatment plant during river breakup.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. installed a temporary water treatment system for Tuluksak in March that pipes water from the Tuluksak River, but the system cannot withstand ice floes released during breakup, KYUK Public Media r eported.
Plans call for reinstalling the system once the river ice is gone. Until then, Tuluksak can store water in large tanks.
The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management this week said it was providing 10 pallets of water, weighing nearly 11,000 pounds, that would be stored at the school. The agency said Tuluksak also has designated the school as a shelter location, if needed, for any flooding during the spring river breakup.