Tanana River crests in Fairbanks; Chena expected to crest Saturday
Originally published Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 9:33 a.m.
Updated Friday, August 1, 2008 at 12:22 a.m.
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FAIRBANKS — Rain on Thursday kept water levels high on rivers that nonetheless began to recede after contributing to floods around much of Interior Alaska this week.
People reported more flooding in the Rosie Creek and Chena Pump Road neighborhoods just west of Fairbanks as well as in Nenana, emergency managers reported. And the National Weather Service extended a flood warning in the community of Salcha until midnight Saturday.
While water levels on the Tanana and Salcha rivers fell Thursday, parts of the Chena River are likely to keep rising through today, weather service hydrologist Ed Plumb said. The river’s crest — the highest point along the river — will move west toward Fairbanks today, he said. According to a forecast issued at noon Thursday, the Chena is expected to reach its highest point in Fairbanks near mid-day Saturday.
The western stretch of the Chena River, which bisects downtown Fairbanks, was still well below flood levels Thursday. While the upper half of the Chena River east of Fairbanks neared flood stage, the area did not see serious flooding, Plumb said.
The coming rain is expected to be light enough to allow the Tanana and Salcha rivers to let off water after historically high water levels seen in the middle of the week, weather service forecaster Mike Richmond said.
“(But) it will be a very slow fall,” Richmond said.
The weather service heard scattered reports of minor flooding along Chena Hot Springs Road and in North Pole, Plumb said, and emergency managers reported floods Thursday at the Nenana River near the town of Tanana.
Nenana residents are closely watching and waiting for the Tanana River to crest.
“We’ll have a real problem if it doesn’t crest soon,” said Ty Duggar, who measured the water level in the 8-foot basement of Coghill’s Store at 6 feet and rising Thursday evening. “The post office crawl space floated, too,” he added.
“It’s over the dock at Yutana Barge Lines and over the river gauge that measures the height of the water.
“There’s no place in town you can even dig two inches and there (won’t) be water,” Duggar said.
Kathy Morgan reported water creeping up 10th Street near the Nenana Airport from the Tanana River on one side and the Nenana River on the other side.
Water also has spilled over the riverbank in front of the Nenana Ice Classic watchtower and is filling up roads by the railroad bridge almost up to George Hall, she said.
According to Ted Fathauer at the National Weather Service, the Tanana River is expected to crest early this morning, before slowly receding over the course of the day.
Several dozen people turned out for an emergency managers public meeting Thursday night in Rosie Creek that followed a similar meeting Wednesday in Salcha.
The flooding followed downpours that forced dozens of residents in Salcha and Rosie Creek from their homes and brought the Tanana River to its highest mark since the August 1967 flood. The Red Cross is running evacuation shelters in elementary schools in Salcha and southwest Fairbanks.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is monitoring the rising Chena River. The Corps’ John Schaake said water flow had not reached levels as of mid-evening Thursday that would lead officials to pull the lever at the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project dam gates, an emergency measure that, when activated, diverts river water to protect populated areas.
Richmond said light rain today and, possibly, a smaller weather system on track to arrive Saturday are not expected to add much to the significant rainfall the area has seen. Various points between Fairbanks and Delta Junction have been hit with 2 to 6 inches since Sunday, Plumb said, with Fairbanks getting close to one-quarter of its average annual precipitation within a matter of days.
A handful of roads around Salcha remained underwater or otherwise impassable. Isolated power outages left some residents there without electricity, said Golden Valley Electric Association spokeswoman Corrine Bradish. Crews restored power at some spots but were unable to drive through water to reach every affected home, she said. The scattered outages — largely confined to Salcha — were caused when wind knocked over trees standing in soggy soil, Bradish said.
“It just happens to be (happening) where it’s bad ground and a lot of water,” she said.
An overflowing slough in southwest Fairbanks washed out a stretch of road connecting a number of condominiums and apartments to Geist Road, Fairbanks North Star Borough public information officer Sallie Stuvek said. A handful of residents there were either stuck at, or away from, home until contractors could temporarily patch the road.
“It was washed out pretty good,” she said.
Borough officials reported Thursday morning that flooding in the Rosie Creek and Chena Pump neighborhoods left a number of roads there impassable. The roads include Perkins Drive, Chief John Drive, Melanie Lane, Heldiver Street and Tall Spruce Road.
The state-owned railroad corporation halted its passenger service in Interior Alaska for the second straight day Thursday and said today’s southbound passenger train will start at Denali National Park and Preserve — passengers coming from Fairbanks will meet it by chartered bus.
News-Miner staff writer Mary Beth Smetzer contributed to this report.
Community Discussion
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It isn't falling slowly on my end of town.
This headline is a written contradiction.
I live on the River Chena, in North Pole, and have been looking at the river about every two hours, it hasn't started falling yet. In fact it is still rising.
It's not falling all that slowly where I am either, luckily I'm on high ground, but still. If I were them I wouldn't say "all clear" just yet.
copied from 1AKFox on another thread...
"Just came back from recon. at 11:30 am
Little Chena is near top of the bank;
Chena at Nordale Bridge is about even with the top.
Current time 12:11 PM
I could see about 1 mile heavy rain.
Radar map shows more on the way this pm from the West.
http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php...... "
Let's cross our fingers.. I live in Salcha and just my garage flooded.. My prayers to all affected..
J-
twingirl—The weather specialists and emergency managers say that while it's still raining, the heavy stuff is behind us and the new stuff is light enough that it will neither make flooding worse nor stop it from soaking into the ground or flowing down the river. So the river levels are going down even though it might still be raining a little bit. I hope that makes sense.
They should never have changed the start of Fair week. The NOAA weather report is calling for rain throughout the weekend and into next week.
I'm sorry. I was testing the rain dance theory and it hasn't stopped raining since.
alaskastoryteller, would you please stop dancing.
that is great news Chris..
Chris, they are forecasts and they are often incorrect as it appears they have been today heavy rain has been falling out east.
There is a ton of moisture coming from the west and I can guarantee this will be one wet and possibly floody month...
Just got back from across the river from Perkins Landing on the Tanana. River went an inch down in about an hour. It is going down but, very slowly.
Friday August 1 is the solar eclipse in the eastern part of the world. Can only imagine what it would have brought if it happened in the western part of the globe.
I sure wish you guys would do some updates on Nenana area, at 8:30pm thursday the water is still rising! Nenana is surrounded by water on all sides from the Tanana and Nenana Rivers. We've been on river watch for 2 days now and it seem's our crest won't be here until saturday is the latest I heard.
You asked for it, you got it, alaskanwildone.
So ALOT of money was used to build the Chena Flood project. I heard the gates haven't been opened. WHY??? I live off Dale Road and the Chena was to the top of the banks @ 5pm when I went home from work. That old airstrip was a big puddle. I've lived pretty permanent in the Fairbanks area since 1979 and it seems all that Flood Project is used for is people's recreation and a money maker for the borough. Annually Salcha and Freeman Road get flooded. Would that not happen if the gates were opened? I wonder what the criteria is to open up the flood project so the water goes into it and away from peoples homes and property?
dee first of all the gates need to be closed/lowered to divert the flow at the dam. While lowering the gates may help the Freeman Rd area they would have no affect on the Salcha. The high water on the lower Chena in the Dale Rd area was the result of two factors, high levels in the Chena and high levels in the Tanana which raises the level in the lower Chena. I do agree that the Corps should lower the gates sooner to reduce the flow in the Chena.
it seems to me, and i may be ignorant on this, that some precautions should be set in place for the salcha river, just like the chena (even though it's never used). every other year or so, the salcha river floods inhabitants living near its shores. so why haven't there been precautions FOR such flooding??? it doesn't make any sense to me. spending money one time for such action sure would save a lot of money in the long haul for people evacuating, damages to their house, roads being impassable, etc. regardless, i think it's strange how people still manage to live in the same house that gets flooded year after year. forget that. a one time flooding is all i need for me to want to relocate.
I just want to thank all of the volunteers who are making sure that people are safe, either by going door to door via canoes to look for stranded people in their flooded homes, setting up the Red Cross shelters, and so on. Thanks volunteers!
Thanks for the updated info James!
@uafgrad08
Basically, it comes down to a cost benefit analysis. If it's cheaper to keep cleaning up in Salcha (where there are ~1000 residents and only a portion get affected) then it's not worth spending multiple millions to fix the problems. The residents pay flood insurance and it gets handled that way.
The reason the Chena project happened (~$215 million) was because it affected many thousands of homes, and caused $85 million in damage in 1967. Since the Chena project was initiated, they have since saved over $250 million not counting this years potential for damage, so it has already paid for itself.
You can't protect everybody. Costs are finite, so you have to spend the money where it'll do the most good. In this case, it's worthwhile for Fairbanks (due to population size and damage capacity) but not for Salcha. It's a tough reality, but money moves the world.
when is it going to stop raining ? I'm so waterlogged I started growing feathers and web feet. and Quack Oops! Oh no not that too!.
hope the little chena don't flood to bad since i live close to that over pass and never seen it flood out on Chena Hot Springs rd at that mile.
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