newsminer.com

Several people had to be rescued this week after an ice jam on the Tanana River caused flooding in Interior Alaska.

Five people were stranded by heavy flooding early Thursday morning at the Old Minto Family Recovery Camp.

The camp is located on an island in the Tanana River about 30 miles from Nenana, and a cabin was the only high ground left because of flooding.

An Army MAST helicopter flew to the scene bout 3:30 a.m. and the five employees — Walter Fitt, 58, Charlie Titus, Jr., 60, Greg Alexander, 40, Dana Pictou, 57, all of Fairbanks, and Donald Charlie, 50, of Nenana — waded 75 feet through waist-deep water to reach the helicopter.

The Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic unit also was called to rescue a 48-year-old Nenana woman Friday morning.

Rebecca Sather-Bowers was stranded on a barge on the Tolovana River after ice jam flooding forced her to abandon her cabin near the Tolovana Roadhouse.

At about 4 a.m., she told Alaska State Troopers via cell phone that she thought she and her 21 sled dogs would be all right, but her husband later lost contact with her about 8 a.m., and a helicopter was dispatched.

She was taken to Fort Wainwright and reunited with relatives.

The woman was forced to leave her dogs on the barge, but planned to go back for them Monday.

The Tolovana Roadhouse area was still covered by several feet of water Friday afternoon, said Ed Plumb, a hydrologist with the National River Forecast Center. The ice jam continued to move downstream, and additional flooding isn’t expected.

Ice jams on the Yukon River flooded parts of Circle earlier this week, and put Fort Yukon under a flood advisory.

The Tanana River flooded Salcha earlier in the week because of ice jams further upstream.