Ice storm closes Valley elementary schools; Middle, High schools remain open

MAT-SU — Valley residents woke Monday morning to sheets of rain and ice blanketing Mat-Su roads.

The National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning for Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough until 3 p.m. while the Mat-Su Borough School District decided to close elementary schools in the Valley’s core area. Parents were asked to use their own discretion in deciding whether to send middle and high school students to school. All after school activities are canceled today.

Wasilla City Council's Monday night meeting is canceled due to weather, council woman Dianne Woodruff said.

The Mat-Su Borough has closed its ice rinks, pools and garbage transfer sites.

And according to a notice on the state's website all state employees who aren't at work yet are directed to remain home.

Over at the Department of Emergency Services, deputy director Clint Vardeman said that crews were called out nine times between 5:55 a.m. and 9 a.m. to assist people with ice-related problems.

About half of them were car accidents, the other half were people who had fallen on the ice.

“Most of them appear to be here in the core area. We’re not getting a whole lot of activity yet beyond that,” Vardeman said.

The department has called in extra people to make sure their ambulances are staffed and ready to roll.

“We have staffed pretty much everything in the core area and we have an ambulance staffed in Willow,” he said.

He said his department had called over to MASCOT to see if the transportation company could help if they needed extra buses at the schools and was told the company had halted its bus runs for the morning and is considering what to do for the afternoon.

In addition to the added staffing, Vardeman said the department of emergency services is setting up an emergency operations center. They’re just getting it ready; a decision on whether to staff it will come later.

“Besides the roads of course the other concern with the freezing rain is power outages if trees come down on power lines,” he said. “The power outages in the cold weather would be what we’re preparing for and — knock on wood — hope it doesn’t happen.”

As of 10:30, the Matanuska Electric Association had posted no notices about the ice storm to it’s webpage, save for a brief notice urging customers to exercise caution in driving. MEA Spokeswoman Cheryll Heinze was not immediately available to talk about power outages.

Asked how long he expected this to go on Vardeman said that, not being a meteorologist, he has to rely on the weather service. But what they’re saying sounds ominous; it doesn’t sound like it’s going to end until well into the afternoon and, in some areas like Talkeetna, maybe not even until tomorrow.

“The air aloft is warm and that’s why it’s coming down as rain and as soon as it hits the ground of course it’s freezing,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.