A series of flood and high wind warnings throughout Southcentral Alaska reached their peak Wednesday, with meteorologists expecting conditions to lighten by the end of the week.
According to the National Weather Service, a flood warning remains in effect until 4 a.m. Thursday for the city of Seward, while one for southeast Prince William Sound including Cordova, Eyak Lake and Eyak River will be in effect until 4 p.m. Thursday. A Kenai River flood watch in effect for Kenai, Soldotna, Homer and Cooper Landing will be in effect until Saturday morning.
Seward waterways including the Resurrection River as well as Glacier and Salmon creeks could see major to moderate flooding, with four to seven inches of rainfall expected in the Cordova area in the next 24 hours.
While Seward declared a state of emergency due to flooding that closed several local roads and one of its airport's two runways Wednesday afternoon, the weather service believes conditions will begin to subside Thursday.
“Rainfall intensities should begin to lesson by late evening Wednesday,” meteorologists wrote. “Streams in the Seward area will continue to rise late this afternoon and evening but should begin to crest by mid-night as the rainfall intensities decrease.”
High wind warnings for East Anchorage, the Hillside, Eagle River and parts of Turnagain Arm, as well as similar warnings for parts of Interior Alaska and the eastern Alaska Range from Tok to Mentasta Lake, are expected to end by 6 a.m. Thursday.
Strong winds produced small and sporadic power outages throughout Southcentral Alaska Wednesday, as well as destroying small structures on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, at least 20 passenger and cargo flights had been diverted from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to Fairbanks and other airports.
Channel 2 chief meteorologist Jackie Purcell says winds in Anchorage will persist through Thursday but should begin to taper off by late Wednesday evening, with conditions offering a gift going into the weekend: partly sunny skies Friday, with a slight chance of rain.
Channel 2 has gathered some helpful information about reporting power outages, as well as Facebook pages for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and area power utilities.
TO REPORT A POWER OUTAGE:
CHUGACH ELECTRIC: 762-7888 (in Anchorage), 800-478-7494 (outside Anchorage)
ML&P: 279-7671
MEA: 696-7697
If you need immediate sheltering assistance, please call the American Red Cross of Alaska at 646-5401.
Damage reports may be filed online at the Anchorage Office of Emergency Management’s website, or you may call OEM at 343-1401 during normal business hours if you do not have access to a computer.
Facebook Pages:
US National Weather Service Alaska:
http://www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.Alaska.gov
Anchorage Office of Emergency Management:
http://www.facebook.com/AnchorageOEM
Municipal Light & Power (ML&P):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Municipal-Light-Power/195622507137163?ref=ts
Chugach Electric:
http://www.facebook.com/ChugachElectric
(CE "Chugach’s Facebook page is not a place to report outages.")
Matanuska Electric Association (MEA):
http://www.facebook.com/matanuska.electric
Editor's note: A flood warning for southeast Prince William Sound is in effect until 4 p.m. Thursday, not 4 a.m. as initially listed.
Contact Chris Klint
