More rain falls on soaked Valley

August 23, 2006

By Michael Rovito

Frontiersman

After a brief respite from the rain Monday, clouds moved back into the Mat-Su Valley Tuesday morning, dropping a steady shower into rivers and creeks.

Minimal damage is expected from the new rain, according to RaeShaun Bibbs, public information officer with the Mat-Su Borough, and rivers at flood stage should remain at the same level.

Rivers and creeks that have receded, however, pose a threat of rising again, although officials say that rise should be minimal.

&#8220We want to continue to use caution when people are trying to access their homes,” Bibbs said.

Predictions from the River Forecast Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called for Tuesday's rain to have a minimal impact on flooded waterways.

&#8220It's primarily prolonging the agony,” said Larry Rundquist, a hydrologist with the River Forecast Center.

Rundquist said the upper portions of rivers and streams will respond most to the new rain system, with lower portions also responding but without the same ferocity of the initial flood.

Towns in the upper portion of the Valley, such as Talkeetna and Trapper Creek, have less of a chance of being affected by the new rain, Rundquist said. It's the lower portion of the Valley, the areas already hardest hit, that would be affected.

Although Red Cross shelters are closed, Bibbs said the borough is ready to open one immediately if needed. Anyone with a medical emergency or those running low on food and water should call 911, Bibbs said.

Residents with standing well drinking water are urged to boil their water for at least two minutes before drinking. For those who would like to test their water, the borough is ordering 86 water test bottles to be distributed to help centers. Along with the test kits, 100 1-gallon jugs of water and 60 cases of bottled water are available at the Willow help center, Bibbs said.

As the waters recede, members of the Red Cross and borough officials are staffing help centers in Willow and Talkeetna. The centers are set up for residents who lost belongings to file the necessary paper work to receive help, Bibbs said. On Monday, 30 people were at the Willow help center and three people were at the Talkeetna center.

State of Alaska representatives will be available at the help centers Wednesday, Bibbs said.

Heavy rains last week in the Talkeetna Mountains swelled both the Susitna and Little Susitna rivers and their tributaries. Scores of residents living along waterways in the borough were forced to evacuate, some in the early morning hours Saturday, as flood waters rose to levels some residents called worse than the floods of 1986.

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@frontiersman.com

Help Centers:

The Willow help center is located at the Willow Library at 23625 W. Willow Community Center Circle. Phone numbers for the center are 495-2055 and 495-2056.

The Sunshine help center in Talkeetna will open at 4:30 p.m. today and is located at the Sunshine Firehall at 42488 S. Parks Highway (at the Y on the Parks Highway). Phone numbers at the center are 733-2055 and 733-2056.