Mat-Su battered by hurricane-force windstorm

Borough-cane. Just a Little Windy. 6-7 Windstorm. Call it what you will, but everybody agrees the that Mother Nature was not content to wait until after the holidays to make her presence known in the Mat-Su Borough this past weekend with an epic windstorm.

With gusts clocking it at over 80 mph at times, power was knocked out for thousands of residents, flipping airplanes and delaying railroads, closing many businesses or operating at minimal capacity to allow people to get what they need without risking injury or damage. At the Fred Meyer in Palmer, most doors and shopping carts were secured as employees loaded up vehicles for shoppers rather than risk attempting to walk through the hurricane-force winds.

Meanwhile, the hard-working linemen at Matanuska Electric Association were only granted a few hours reprieve before getting back to work, at times fighting against Mother Nature as they tried to restore power. Compounding their efforts was the blistering cold temperatures and wind chills, resulting in single-digit temperatures for those forced to go outside. “In some areas, crews have already attempted restoration but had to pull back due to dangerous, sustained wind gusts. Safety comes first, and when conditions improve, crews will return to those locations as soon as it’s safe,” MEA posted on their social media page, which has been updating residents on the progress, and yes setbacks, in trying to restore power.

MEA also credited their contract partners—Sturgeon, NPC, Lineworks, EPC, and Chugach—for their assistance on Monday’s storm response.

Several local businesses have shown their appreciation to the linemen with free coffee and tea at Perkup Espresso, and free pizza from Pioneer Pizza. “They have been out working non-stop the last several days and we want to show our appreciation,” Pioneer Pizza wrote.

An anonymous donor left a gift card at Blondie’s Espresso on 49th Street for linemen to grab a cup of coffee as a thank you for all their hard work. “Not all heroes wear capes,” wrote Nate Doran.

All three city offices-Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston were closed on Monday due to power outages and to maintain the safety of the employees.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) closed schools on Monday before announcing closures again for Tuesday due to the windstorm and resulting outages.

Though clean-up barely begun, the damage to some businesses is already being felt. The iconic Settlers Bay Lodge is closed indefinitely after sustaining extensive damage to the roof. “We appreciate your kind thoughts and words as we, and all of our staff, navigate this difficult time.”

The Wasilla Walmart was also temporarily closed after it too had damage to its roof on Saturday. It has since re-opened. Several other businesses were operating with limitations or were closed as a result of the winds. For a list of businesses open with potential cash-only limitations and those closed primarily due to power loss as of that date, please refer to the Mat-Su Valley News Facebook page Mat-Su Valley News Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the pictures and videos really tell the tale, Hundreds of people posted to the Mat-Su Frontiersman Facebook page, showing damage caused by falling trees, overturned trailers, and more flying trampolines than we would have guessed. “RIP trampoline,” wrote Courtney Murray about her overturned and flipped trampoline that appears to be a loss.

Judy Cain of Settlers Bay said that while the power was out most of the morning of December 6, she noticed a downed tree in her driveway. “A kind man who saw my situation came by and cut enough for us to leave if we have an emergency.” Cain later reported her power had been restored.

Some tried to maintain a little humor during the storm. Over at Knik-Goose Bay Road, which sustained power outages and flying debris from the start of the windstorm, when asked how everyone was doing, one respondent posted:

“We now identify as KG, as I'm pretty sure the B has been blown elsewhere.”

All of this calls to mind similar windstorms in much of the same area that seem to occur every year. In January, 2022, wind gusts up to 91 mph damaged buildings, flipped airplanes and truck trailers, sent debris flying and left up to 22,000 households without power for long stretches of time with temperatures near zero. Most remembered it as the storm that took out the Wasilla KFC, which seems to have emerged unscathed during this current storm.

In December that same year, another windstorm hit, though the wallop it packed was not as power, with gusts at times 50 to 60 miles per hour, even being clocked at 77mph at one point, knocking out power to nearly 20,000 and making many roads impassable, it fell short of the hurricane force winds of the January’s storm