No quick relief from floodwaters in Interior Alaska: more rain on the way
Published Friday, August 1, 2008
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2008 Fairbanks Flood
Here are some scenes of the flooding in the Fairbanks and Nenana areas. If you have pictures of the flooding, send them to internet@newsminer.com and we'll post them online.
FAIRBANKS -- In the next 48 hours Gov. Sarah Palin will likely grant the borough’s request to declare regions affected by heavy rains and flooding as disaster areas.
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker made a disaster declaration , and the Borough Assembly is expected to vote on the declaration Tuesday and extend it for another 180 days.
The borough’s office of Emergency Operations is estimating that more than 500 homes might be damaged as a result of flooding.
However, the borough, along with the Department of Homeland Security is holding off on the damage assessment process until the waters have stopped rising, and according to current forecasts, that might not be until at least Thursday, said emergency operations spokeswoman Sallie Stuvek.
Nenana residents have been especially hard hit with the Tanana River reaching its highest point in more than 40 years.
The river is running at 14.3 feet, more than four feet lower than the all-time record set in 1967, but the National Weather Service is predicting another inch of rain will fall over the Interior by the end of Saturday, and another storm system is set to arrive Monday.
Ty Duggar, manager of Coghill’s General Store in Nenana, said Friday that the store’s eight-foot high unused basement was flooded with about seven feet of water and it appeared to be rising at a rate of about a quarter-inch per hour.
“Maybe it’s getting better, but it hasn’t crested yet,” he said.
Water was seen on several roads in Nenana, and flooding forced the town’s clinic to temporarily relocate to the fire department’s headquarters.
Flood waters also submerged the Alaska Railroad’s mainline track in Nenana. All freight and passenger train operations between Nenana and Fairbanks have been halted.
Further downstream, Tanana Chiefs Conference was forced to evacuate the Old Minto Family Recovery Camp.
Fairbanks flooding
Meanwhile, rising water in Fairbanks, especially the Perkins Landing and Rosie Creek areas, caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to activate the Chena Flood Control project at approximately 3:30 a.m. Friday.
In the Rosie Creek area, floodwaters have begun to recede but the neighborhood remains soggy. There was standing water in some houses.
Getting into the neighborhood off Perkins Road is tricky. A boat or hip waders are required.
Some neighborhood residents fled the flooding, while others stayed behind, hoping to minimize the damage. Chena Goldsteam Fire and Rescue is keeping a high profile in the area.
“I can see a little bit of grass,” Rosie Creek resident Ken Pruitt said as he peered out his window.
Water seeped into his crawl space but otherwise his home is unscathed.
“Our worst problem is that we still have a four-wheeler down the road that is submerged,” Pruitt said.
A flood warning remains in effect until noon Saturday for the Tanana River from Fairbanks to Manley Hot Springs.
There was some good news for Salcha residents Friday, however, as the National Weather Service canceled a flood warning for Salcha, and there is no longer water on the Old Richardson Highway.
The forecast is less promising in Denali National Park, however, where the service has received reports of high water and rock slides in parts of the park that are largely uninhabited.
The Alaska Railroad Corp. has also put passenger service between Fairbanks and Denali on hold until further notice. Passengers from Fairbanks will be moved by bus to the park. Those coming from Anchorage by train will stop in Denali and continue to the Golden Heart City by bus.
Dealing with the damage
This July was one of the rainiest on record, according to the National Weather Service. The Fairbanks International Airport recorded 4.12 inches of rain, making this the sixth rainiest July in the past 104 years. Eielson Air Force Base recorded 7.30 inches of rain, making it the rainiest July ever recorded, and the second rainiest month ever measured, behind only the record rainfall of August 1967.
Pumping companies and water damage restoration specialists are starting to log calls about the flooding, but they can't do much on-site until the water retreats.
Dana Davis, secretary for Homestead Pumping and Thawing in North Pole, said she's received about five calls already from people whose septic systems failed or where leach fields are full.
"We really can't do much until the water recedes, because it would just fill up again," she said. "But, we're trying."
Mike Goodwin, estimator for water damage restoration pros Service Masters, said staff is on-call to respond to homes once the water levels drop. Sue Ringstad, owner of Fairbanks Restoration, said she's got a waiting list of five right now.
"We've gotten calls, but right now the water is still coming in," she said. "At this point people are just on a waiting list for when the flooding has dissipated."
Outside water that flows indoors should be treated like sewage, because it's impossible to tell what the water has come into contact with, Goodwin said.
Beyond that, water damage should be taken seriously and areas dried and sanitized quickly, he added. Health risks from secondary damage, like mold, can be greater than risks from the high water.
Goodwin warned that people with flood insurance should call a professional to deal with even minor damage - or risk violating their policies.
Tami Archer, a personal lines manager at Dunlap Agency, said each policy differs.
"It's always in your best interest to call your insurance company if you have any kind of damage," she said. "It may end up being considerably more expensive than you thought."
That's especially the case with water, she said, which can seep into hidden places and result in mold.
Staff writers Rena Delbridge and Amanda Bohman contributed to this story.
Community Discussion
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Having been through the big flood, you will have a comeback and survive this. Good Luck to you.
See I told you more rain was coming. Bring on the flood!
"Meanwhile, rising water in Fairbanks, especially the Perkins Landing and Rosie Creek areas, caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to activate the Chena Flood Control project"
This statement is not true. These areas are along the Tanana River, not the Chena River. Activating the flood control project does not benefit these areas. In fact, it can cause more flooding in those areas if enough water from the Chena River Flood Control Project reaches the Tanana River through the diversion ditch so that a local crest in the Tanana River forms.
More rain coming? Rivers are cresting, water should start gong down? Since most homeowner's were awoken during the middle of the night with no warning that their homes might be flooded, how much warning are the rest of us who live in the city of Fairbanks and outlying areas going to get if it's going to flood? Looking at the riverbanks in town and along Chena Pump Road, looks like it'd only take another foot or so before the Chena will be coming into the whole area. Is it the FNSB's Emergency Operations and Dept. of Homeland Security who will give us advance warning or will we have water coming into our homes before we know it's flooding?
More rain coming? Rivers are cresting, water should start going down? Since most homeowner's were awoken during the middle of the night with no warning that their homes might be flooded, how much warning are the rest of us who live in the city of Fairbanks and outlying areas going to get if it's going to flood? Looking at the riverbanks in town and along Chena Pump Road, looks like it'd only take another foot or so before the Chena will be coming into the whole area. Is it the FNSB's Emergency Operations and Dept. of Homeland Security who will give us advance warning or will we have water coming into our homes before we know it's flooding?
Lets hope this is all over for the residents involved.. I had flooding in my home but being out here in the middle of the ocean I felt pretty helpless. Good thing I have great neighbors. I am glad to read that the flooding in Salcha has receded...
Good luck to all..
We should all feel safe with the Chena Flood Project? How? If the Tanana swells and starts back filling the Chena we will flood regardless of having the flood project is what I understand from all this. That fact doesnt even start to talk about the forty river miles of creeks and tributaries that still feed our river after the flood gates. As citizens dont we owe it to ourselves to ask if this project is enough to secure our community or do we wait for a smaller scale New Orleans in our back yards?
The waters continue to rise in Nenana...this isn't over yet and the waters are not going down, more rain on the way.......My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
I guess this is why a person should
"Always Buy OR Build a home on "High-Ground" !!
Wishing them the best of luck.
man! this fishing sucks!
Yes Flooding IS Inevitable….
But The Damage Is Not!
As you well know
The next flood is coming. Just like the next sunrise, full moon and bad TV sitcom, the next flood is always coming. There is simply no way to avoid that fact. If you live in an area that has flooded before it IS going to flood again. Beyond that, based on recent events and predictions of global warming, the expectations for the next flood, grows higher every day. You’ve seen the expanding flood plain maps being re-drawn by multiple engineering firms under contract to FEMA. From these it’s clear what the “experts” see for the future. The number, of reported US flood events, has increased in frequency by an order of 12 times from 1950 to 2000.
The cost of flood damage paid by flood insurance is $6 billion annually, in the US, and insurance estimates say that only 20% of the damage is reimbursed. Waiting for the USACE or any other agency to provide help is an exercise in futility. Under even the best scenario projects take decades to complete. There are now effective new technologies for providing emergency flood protection that are less costly and time consuming than traditional methods like sandbags. You can learn more about one such system at www.floodwalls.com.
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