Days of rain causes flooding, road closures

The seemingly never-ending rains have caused rivers and creeks in the Houston, Willow and Wasilla areas to swell and breach their banks, resulting in flooding in several local neighborhoods.

In Houston, on Tuesday, the Little Su River was running swiftly, spilling into the banks making some of the trails impassable. According to NOAA, the Little Su at the Parks Highway Bridge had reached 12.54 feet Tuesday evening. Flood stage at that area is 11 feet. The rising waters could be seen creeping closer to the cabins the sit behind the Miller’s Market on Parks Highway, which has the Little Su in its backyard.

The low-lying neighborhood of Enchanted Forest saw areas flooded on Tuesday, closing several parts of No Name Hill, Little John, Robin Hood, Rainee, and Pay Dirt roads, to name a few.

Houston resident John Venable lives along the Little Su uploaded drone footage to social media, allowing residents to see the full impact of the flooding.

“I have neighbors that were affected pretty good. They had to move their livestock to higher ground,” Venable said.

Wednesday brought the floods further to King Arthur Road along the Parks Highway.

The city of Houston issued a safety advisory warning residents of the flooding and to not drive through flood waters for safety and road integrity. Driving over it increases the damage to the road, risks automobiles’ transmission, and risks vehicles and occupants may stall or end up sinking. The city also offered that rescue crews are available to assist in evacuations if needed.

Still others on social media were ready to assist people needing to get to higher ground, or simply get around to reach their homes.

“We’re all neighbors here,” said Steven Barney along with his offer of assistance to anyone needing to move their belongings to a higher elevation.

While the river is thought to have crested Wednesday morning, Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson did cancel the regularly scheduled city council meeting set for Aug. 11 due to flooding concerns.

Further north, Willow residents along the Willow Creek also saw the waters crest near the Shirley Towne Bridge. Other impacted roads include N Sushana Drive, and West Denheki Drive near the Michelle Drive Bridge. Burrow Road at Willow Fishhook Road remained closed as of Tuesday evening to the waters overtopping the roads.

A portion of Schrock Road had been closed Tuesday morning from flooding, but was later reopened to one lane after crews cleaned up the affected areas.

“When you see water running across the road, don’t drive through it. It’s too tough to judge it,” Mat-Su Borough Director of Public Affairs Stefan Hinman said. “You could find yourself submerged pretty quick.”{/span}{/span}

Wednesday offered a sunny reprieve from the rain although the National Weather Service has forecasted at least 50% chance of rain for the remainder of the week and into the weekend.

Water levels on regional rivers and streams will stay high, and even some minor flooding could occur. A flood advisory remain in place for the Mat-Su, especially the Little Su River through Wednesday at 12:45 pm.

The City of Houston has asked residents to submit photos of flooding and flood damage to properties and homes to: publicworks@houston-ak.gov. Photo documentation assists the City in recovery efforts.

Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann contributed.