On Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers notified the Alaska Department of Transportation about the flooding.
Justin Shelby is the administrative operations manager for the Department of Transportation central region. He said water is flowing over several hundred feet of roadway near the Anchor River campground, but the flooding has not damaged the road.
"We'd be seeing damage in areas where the waters are fast flowing, and there's more of a sustained current, as opposed to just flooding over the top of the roadway," Shelby said.
This area often floods in the spring as warming temperatures melt snow, filling rivers and breaking up ice. Marian Baker, the Senior Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service, cites a recent “Chinook event” as the cause of the ice jams.
“It will melt the snow, it'll be very windy. We had a lot of high winds. Chinook events are very wind damage is very common from Chinook the winds pick up, and they can just do a lot of damage, and they can melt the snow,” Baker said.
Residents are advised to avoid the area if possible or proceed with caution if they must drive through. You can find more information on the National Weather Service website.
