New ice age

MAT-SU — A storm that blanketed the Valley in freezing rain and ice wreaked havoc on local roadways Monday and have prompted the closing of Mat-Su Borough School District schools for a second day today.

The National Weather Service extended its ice storm warning for Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough through 5 a.m., Tuesday. The ice storm began when rain started falling overnight Monday, blanketing Southcentral roads in ice.

The Mat-Su Borough School District closed elementary schools in the Valley’s core area Monday and parents were asked to use their discretion when deciding whether to send middle and high school students to school. All after school activities were also canceled.

At the borough Department of Emergency Services, deputy director Clint Vardeman said crews were responding to calls at a regular clip. About half of them were car accidents and 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.

Schools spokeswoman Catherine Esary said that at least as far as elementary school closures go, the northern reaches of the borough seemed to be having an easier time than the core area.

“It’s actually not that bad out there. Trapper Creek, Talkeetna and Willow — they’re all open,” she said.

She said shortly after noon Monday that school officials began monitoring weather conditions and evenually made the decision in the early evening to close schools Tuesday as well. Essentially, she said, the district wanted to do a better job than it did for Monday, when the decision to close schools came after a lot of high school and middle school students had already left for school.

“The call to close elementaries today came later than we would like it to have been because weather conditions were changing,” Esary said.

As far as closures go, the borough decided to shut down pools, ice rinks and garbage transfer sites. The city of Wasilla canceled its regular city council meeting. Mat-Su College and Charter College both canceled classes for the day.

The state of Alaska closed its offices early. State employees in Fairbanks and Mat-Su who didn’t make it to work by mid-morning were directed to stay home. That directive did not apply to troopers, corrections officers or other state employees “whose services are required for the health and safety of Alaskans,” according to a state press release.

As the day wore on, some local businesses decided to close early, including Fred Meyer.

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 called MASCOT to see if the transportation company could help if extra buses were needed at the schools and was told the company had halted its bus runs for Monday morning and was 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.”

By midmorning Monday, Matanuska Electric Association had posted no notices about the ice storm to it’s website, save for a brief notice urging customers to exercise caution in driving. MEA Spokeswoman Cheryll Heinze did not return multiple calls seeking information about power outages.

Asked how long he expected the icy conditions to go on, Vardeman said that, not being a meteorologist, he has to rely on the weather service.

“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.