Power being restored to MEA customers

UPDATE: As of Thursday (Oct. 1) morning, power had been restored to all MEA customers who lost power Tuesday and Wednesday due to the first winter storm of the season.

ORIGINAL STORY:

WASILLA — Snowy trees turned out the lights and heaters for about 3,000 MEA customers during the worst of Tuesday night’s snow, company officials said.

Officials counted 26 outages in the MEA Service Area, including Big Lake, Birchwood, Chugiak, Eagle River, Petersville, Palmer, Talkeetna, Wasilla, and the other Valley communities, according to a press release.

Power had been restored to all but about 762 customers by noon Wednesday, and officials were expecting the number to continue to decrease throughout the day.

More information, including a detailed outage map is available at www.mea.coop.

About 1.7 inches of rain and snow had fallen at the Palmer Airport in the last three days, swelling local creeks and rivers, according to figures provided by the National Weather Service web site. A flood advisory lifted about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The rain turned to wet, heavy snow overnight, blanketing many areas of the Valley with their first measurable snowfall of the season.

However, the first winter storm of the season brought relatively minor problems.

Borough officials announced the closure Wednesday morning of an emergency operations center coordinating efforts related to flooding Monday and Tuesday. Six roads remained closed and about 10 houses were affected, according to borough press releases.

Borough officials reported no car collisions with injury as a result of the early-morning snowfall, though Alaska State Troopers reported at least one collision at the intersection of Lucille and Seldon about 7 a.m., according to trooper dispatches.