6pm Update from City of Valdez Monday January 27, 2014 6:00 PM The Richardson Highway remains closed from mile post 12 – 64. The Richardson Highway through Keystone Canyon is expected to remain closed until at least next Sunday, February 2nd, but may be longer. The City Manager, Police Chief, and Fire Chief conducted aerial reconnaissance via helicopter today (Monday January 27th) and reported that water is flowing very strongly through the old tunnel and is moving underneath the snow pack. This is exactly what needs to happen to drain the lake that is built up behind the avalanche in a controlled way. They also reported that the areas of Alpine Wood Subdivision, Nordic Subdivision, the 12-mile dike, and the 6-mile subdivision all appear to be in good shape. The Police Chief indicated that due to individuals walking past the gates of the road closure, they will station an officer there to help prevent people from entering the area. This is being done as a safety precaution as the area is considered to be unstable and dangerous. Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT) is monitoring the water level of the lake behind the avalanche and reports that it is receding. The water level has to be reduced to point where it is not covering the road before they can safely begin to move snow and debris. It could still take several days for this much water to drain out. ADOT brought in a maintenance engineer to assess the situation in Keystone Canyon. A report of his findings is expected by mid day tomorrow (Tuesday January 28th). The City Manager spoke with the state’s hydrologist again today who reiterated that catastrophic failure of the snow dam is considered very unlikely. The main concern at this point is the possibility of some localized flooding just west of the Canyon. However the flash flood warning remains in effect until further notice. The local post office has reported that priority and express mail is being delivered via airplane. Packages are not being accepted at the post office at this time unless they are to be mailed via express mail. FedEx reports that they will be sending a plane this evening to deliver and pick up packages mailed through their company. Safeway has reported that they have already stocked the majority of the freight received this morning. Produce and dairy is back to full capacity. The remainder of the items received will be on the shelves by early afternoon tomorrow (Tuesday January 28th). They are expecting another barge in on Saturday afternoon. Matt Ficek, Store Manager, wished to inform local businesses that Safeway is able to help coordinate supplies on the barge coming in this Saturday if there are specific items needed. Please contact him at the store at 461-3300 to make arrangements. As long as the road remains closed, Safeway will continue to barge food into Valdez as needed. Village Pharmacy reported that they are fully stocked and have not been affected by the road closure since there has been no interruption in air service. The City of Valdez received an updated ferry schedule from the Marine Highway System to increase ferry traffic to Valdez while the road is closed. The revised ferry schedule is available by visiting ferryalaska. The airport and port facilities remain fully functional. For residents in the 10 mile area (Nordic and Alpine Woods subdivisions), the voluntary evacuation advisory is still in effect until further notice. The city provided shelter has established at the Teen Center and will run for as long as needed. Those who need to drop off pets at the animal shelter please call 835-2286 to make arrangements. The City of Valdez asks residents in both of these subdivisions to be prepared to evacuate immediately in the event of the siren going off in that area. The City of Valdez will provide another press release at 10:00 AM tomorrow (Tuesday, January 28th) unless there are significant changes to the situation. Posted January 27, 2014 Holly Wolgamott, Deputy City Clerk/PIO, City of Valdez
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:09:18 +0000
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