Record Rainfall, Snowmelt Close 70 Miles Of SE Alaska Highway Near Valdez

Record rainfall, mudslides and snowmelt are hammering Valdez, where breached levees Tuesday prompted the evacuation of some 200 residents, and others remained stranded after officials closed nearly 70 miles of the Richardson Highway. The wet, windy, unseasonably warm weather has walloped Southcentral communities like Valdez, Seward, and Cordova for days. In the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, officials said while water rose along some troublesome creeks and rivers, no waterway reached flood stage.

The Richardson closure stranded at least six travelers at a highway maintenance station at Thompson Pass. At least eight others holed up at Rendezvous Lodge farther north, where state officials measured about 6 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. Waters outside Valdez' Alpine Woods subdivision slopped over the Lowe River Dike. The city told people to get out, as the Red Cross set up a shelter at George Gilson Junior High School. Storms cut off at least 10 homes in Heiden View, a smaller subdivision north of the city, where Matt Kinney runs the Thompson Pass Mountain Chalet. "The creeks here look like turbine jets," Kinney said. "When I walk out my door, it's thunderous. I'm looking out at probably 20 waterfalls coming down from 6,000 feet."

Valdez sits on the north shore of Port Valdez in Prince William Sound. It's a 305-mile drive from Anchorage, and the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Its 4,400 residents can leave only by airplane, the state ferry or the Richardson.

That road took a beating the past few days. The National Weather Service said 6.5 inches of rain fell Sunday and Monday at Valdez -- 4.6 inches Monday alone, breaking the city's 24-hour record. Spots along the closed section of highway -- from 12 miles northwest of Valdez to milepost 79 -- recorded even greater accumulations.

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