Wind, rain pummel Valley; flood advisory issued

PALMER — High wind and steady rain made for a soggy, dark time across major portions of the Mat-Su Valley Sunday night and Monday morning.

Power outages were the most inconvenient part of the storm for most Valley residents.

“About 9:30 last night the outage started in the Butte with about 900 people,” Matanuska Electric Association Spokesman Kevin Brown said Monday. “We got that mostly resolved. By about 11:30, it was down to about 30 people total and then we had a very large second outage in the Butte about 3 o’clock in the morning.”

From there it got worse. Palmer went down and then large portions of MEA’s service area in Eagle River, Chugiak and Birchwood, Brown said. Lineman worked throughout the night and into the day, and by 3 p.m., with winds dying down, the utility started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

At one point Monday morning, as many as 7,000 homes were without power, Brown said. By 8:30 p.m., that number was down to about 100 customers in the Butte.

Worries about how power outages affect the school day were quickly put to rest. Borough schools all have backup generators, according to Mat-Su School District spokesperson Catherine Esary.

Also on generator power for part of the day was the Palmer Police Department.

“We have actually three generators in the building,” Lt. Lance Ketterling said.

He said that, by and large, the city weathered the weather without any major damage, at least none that he’d heard of.

“The wind is obviously always a concern, but most people live around here are pretty much used to it and take precautions to protect their home,” Ketterling said.

While the wind and the power situation seemed to be coming under control, the rain began to look ominous.

“The National Weather Service in Anchorage has issued a flood advisory for rain and melting snow in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys until 4 p.m., Tuesday,” the service announced Monday afternoon.

The flood advisory applies to some pretty major water bodies — the Little Susitna River, Willow Creek, Montana Creek, the Talkeetna River, the Skwentna River and the Yentna River.

By Monday afternoon, one call to respond to flooding had already gone out. Outbuildings near a home on Mallard Lane in Meadow Lakes had taken on some water.

“There’s not really much we can do right now because it’s just swamps that are over(flowing),” Mat-Su Borough Emergency Manager Casey Cook said. “They’re no longer soaking up any water and so that’s moving the water up.”

He said the borough would be keeping an eye on the rivers and urges anyone who experiences flooding to call 373-8800 during business hours or 911 nights and on the weekends.

“Firefighters will come out and take a look at it,” Cook said.

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