Breakup
It's that time of year again. The ice on most of the interior rivers has gone out over the last week or so. Last and most dramatic, the Yukon River is beginning to break up and roll out. In Eagle, the next community up from Circle, the ice jammed up (which means that instead of all the chunks of ice flowing freely, some of it has clogged up and all the ice behind that is stacking up like so much traffic on an LA freeway) causing the water to flood the community with the worst flooding on record. All that ice should be making it's way down river to Circle sometime today or tonight.
Brian Rozell
This is from the National Weather Service:
A SIGNIFICANT ICE JAM CONTINUES TO HOLD ON THE YUKON RIVER AT EAGLE. THE ICE JAM HAS DAMMED UP THE RIVER WHICH RESULTED IN THE WORST FLOODING IN RECORDED HISTORY. THE OLD VILLAGE OF EAGLE AND PORTIONS OF TOWN HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY DESTROYED. THE YUKON RIVER IS ALSO RISING FROM EAGLE TO CIRCLE CITY AND ADDITIONAL ICE JAMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM.
THE ICE JAM IN EAGLE BEGAN SHIFTING MONDAY EVENING AND WATER LEVELS STARTED TO FLUCTUATE DRAMATICALLY. RISING WATER PUSHED ICE OVER THE RETAINING WALL AND SLAMMED HOUSE SIZE CHUNKS INTO BUILDINGS ALONG FRONT STREET. AN ADDITIONAL RISE IN WATER LEVELS EARLY TUESDAY MORNING LIFTED SOME BUILDINGS ALONG FRONT STREET OFF OF THEIR FOUNDATIONS AND SENT THEM DOWN THE YUKON RIVER. OTHER BUILDINGS NEAR THE RIVER HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED AND ARE UNSALVAGEABLE. THE ROAD TO THE AIRPORT IS UNDERWATER AND WATER AND ICE HAVE RISEN TO ONE END OF THE CITY RUNWAY. POWERLINES TO THE OLD AND NEW VILLAGE HAVE BEEN KNOCKED DOWN AND LEFT PORTIONS OF THE AREA WITHOUT ELECTRICITY. AS OF 7 AM WATER LEVELS APPEAR TO HAVE STABILIZED AND MAY BE SLOWLY FALLING. LOCAL RESIDENTS ESTIMATE THAT THE WATER HAS RISEN TO MORE THAN 10 FEET HIGHER THAN THE FLOOD OF RECORD. WATER LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO FLUCTUATE IN EAGLE UNTIL THE ICE JAM HAS COMPLETELY FLUSHED DOWNRIVER.
A REPORT FROM PEOPLE LIVING 12 MILES DOWNSTREAM FROM EAGLE INDICATED THAT THE WATER WAS RISING RAPIDLY THERE. RAPID INCREASES IN THE WATER LEVEL DOWNSTREAM FROM EAGLE TO CIRCLE CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE ICE AND THE WATER BACKED UP AT EAGLE MOVE DOWNSTREAM. ADDITIONAL ICE JAMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM.
FARTHER DOWNRIVER...THE YUKON RIVER HAS BEEN RISING IN CIRCLE AND THE RIVER ICE IS BEGINNING TO LIFT UP AND SHIFT. A LARGE VOLUME OF WATER IS EXPECTED TO MOVE DOWN THE YUKON RIVER TOWARDS CIRCLE WHEN THE ICE JAM NOW DOWNSTREAM FROM EAGLE RELEASES. WATER LEVELS WILL RISE RAPIDLY DOWNSTREAM OF EAGLE BETWEEN NOW AND WEDNESDAY. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CIRCLE COULD EXPERIENCE THE WORST FLOODING IN RECENT MEMORY.
A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. PEOPLE SHOULD GATHER BELONGINGS NOW AND MOVE THEM TO HIGHER GROUND. RESIDENTS SHOULD PREPARE TO EVACUATE AT A MOMENTS NOTICE. TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS IMMEDIATELY.
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Reader Comments (3)
Much love, Mom