Mike Flood

Ice jam flooding caused damage and displaced residents in parts of Interior Alaska, while other communities in Western Alaska could still see rising waters this week.

Before the annual spring breakup began this month, officials had called for an above-average flooding risk along some rivers including stretches of the Yukon, Tanana and Kuskokwim due to higher snow levels and above average ice thickness.

Flooding has been minimal for those areas of greatest concern, according to state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesman Jeremy Zidek.

“We did not see significant flooding in any of these areas and it appears the danger has passed,” he said Tuesday.

Instead, more serious flooding in the small villages of Chalkyitsik and Hughes resulted in Gov. Mike Dunleavy verbally declaring a state disaster emergency on Monday. The two communities were not in areas with the greatest flooding concerns as identified by forecasters, Zidek said.

The declaration applied to Alaska’s Yukon Flats and Yukon-Koyukuk education regional attendance areas, officials said. The directive activates the state’s disaster response mechanisms, as well as opening up response and recovery resources for things like housing repairs, property replacement and infrastructure fixes, according to a statement announcing the declaration.

As of Wednesday morning, a flood warning was in effect until 4:30 a.m. Friday for Stevens Village along the Yukon River. The water there, forecasters said, rose 5 feet overnight and was expected to continue to rise. No buildings had been inundated yet, according to the National Weather Service.

An ice jam on the Middle Yukon River also prompted a flood watch for Galena through Wednesday evening.

The Kuskokwim River communities of Tuluksak, Akiak, Kwethluk, Bethel, Napaskiak, Oscarville,and Napakiak were also under flood watches until Thursday morning due to multiple reported ice jams and some minor flooding of low-lying areas in Bethel and Kwethluk. There were reports of minor flooding in Kalskag.

In Hughes, on the Koyukuk River, a National Weather Service flood warning was in effect until 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Over the weekend, water that rose quickly Saturday night pushed most of the village’s approximately 80 residents to the community’s shelter, according to the statement. Ten remained at the shelter on Monday night, Zidek said.

By Wednesday morning, the water levels were dropping after the ice broke up overnight, according to NWS observer reports.

Aircraft have been unable to land on the village’s airstrip due to the flooding, which has also inundated some of lower-lying homes and buildings, though the high water hadn’t advanced past Hughes’ school, according to a state update Tuesday.

River Watch program observers said Monday night that water levels had crested and slightly fallen in Hughes. The program, a state and federal partnership, tracks conditions, provides warnings and responds to spring floods in Alaska.

Damage estimates will be completed once the water recedes, Zidek said.

Officials said they’ve been able to evacuate several ill residents or elders and deliver supplies, with help from organizations like the Tanana Chiefs Conference and an Alaska State Troopers helicopter. State officials said they were working to gain permission to use a nearby U.S. Air Force runway until the village’s airstrip is repaired.

Once a runway is available, the American Red Cross of Alaska could fly to Hughes to help support displaced residents as they stayed in the village’s shelter if requested, spokesperson Taylar Sausen said. That could come as early as Wednesday, Sausen said.

The aid organization was also gearing up to help other communities affected by flooding, she said.

In Chalkyitsik, a village along the Black River about 50 miles east of Fort Yukon, a May 7 ice jam on the Black River resulted in rapidly rising water that affected several homes and low-lying areas, according to the disaster declaration statement.

Village leaders reported eight homes with water in them on May 8, Zidek said.

Flood response teams monitoring the Upper Yukon River area were demobilized as of Tuesday morning, with some members redeployed elsewhere, while officials said in the daily situation report that “flood impacts ceased” in other villages like Aniak after ice jams broke.