Street flooding clears as hundreds remain without power following weekend storm
The ongoing outages were caused by significant damage paired with mandatory repair crew rest periods.
What you need to know:
- Water pooling on area streets during heavy rain Sunday naturally receded by Monday morning, but about 800 residents were still without power following the storm.
- The flooding resulted from rain pooling on frozen ground and ice-clogged culverts.
- The ongoing power outages were attributed to the extent of the damage combined with mandatory rest periods for repair crews.
PALMER – Flooding on Mat-Su roads caused by heavy rain pooling on frozen ground and in ice-blocked culverts Sunday was largely resolved by midday Monday, officials said, while about 800 residents remained without power following the storm.
Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) officials said the ongoing outages, many of which began early Sunday, were caused by significant damage during the storm, including broken poles and mandatory rest periods for repair crews. They said the number of outages were expected to fluctuate over the evening Monday as crews worked on sections of line, and some residents were expected to remain without power into Tuesday.
“Given the challenges, we want members to be prepared that some repairs may extend into tomorrow,” MEA officials said in a message posted to the company’s Facebook page at about noon Monday. “We hope to be able to narrow down which members should expect this timeline later this afternoon and will continue to make updates letting you know.”
Street flooding in the region began to recede naturally Sunday evening as the rain ended, city and borough officials said Monday.
Flooding was most severe in Palmer, where several intersections were largely blocked and Eagle Avenue at Denali Street was closed. Large amounts of water pooled around homes, businesses and the borough administration building. City officials urged residents to avoid driving through large puddles. Emergency crews also responded to a homeowner's report of a rain-induced mudslide off Second Street in Palmer.
The flooding did not cause any permanent damage to borough or city property, officials said Monday. While residents evacuated the Second Street home as a precaution, the structure was not damaged, Palmer Police Cmdr. Luke Szipszky said in an interview Monday.
Although some water flowed down Lucille Street in Wasilla during the height of the storm, there was no significant flooding on Wasilla streets, Wasilla Public Works Director Erich Schaal said Monday. That's due in part to an ongoing series of changes Wasilla officials are making to culverts and drains that allow them to move water even during frozen winter months, he said.
“The process in the valley had been the water will drain in the ground. That doesn’t work with these midwinter warm-ups, because everything’s frozen,” he said. “We also have to have the backup structure where we can drain it when everything’s frozen when it has nowhere to go.”
Palmer Public Works officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
