Tanana River Ice Jam Has Broken Free

Spring means Alaska’s frozen rivers are breaking out of their icy blocks. An ice jam on the Tanana River caused major flooding damage in the nearby Native village of Manley Hot Springs. Here’s more from Alaska’s News Source on the breakup of that jam:

An Emergency Operations Center was stood up to assist the residents of Manley Hot Springs impacted by the flood. Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster on Saturday. Kawasaki said that members of the Fairbanks delegation were briefed about the response efforts on Sunday.

“What we heard from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is that some folks had voluntarily left earlier on knowing that this flooding would occur, and that the Emergency Operations Center had no ongoing transports that were necessary at that time,” Kawasaki said.

Kawasaki said that the department was working to obtain water pumps from the Division of Forestry to assist with moving water away from low-lying areas in Manley Hot Springs. The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement that a strong cold front would move into the area.