Flood Waters
I mentioned in my last journal entry, that several areas here in Interior Alaska are under water from all the rain we’ve had. Nenana has been very hard hit, as has Salcha. Fortunately for those of us who live here in Fairbanks and North Pole, only a few neighborhoods have been impacted. It’s a sad thing for those folks who have homes right on the river. Almost all have had to evacuate. Fortunately no rain fell yesterday, and so far today - although skies are grey - there is no rain falling.
In North Pole, there is a dam on the Chena River, which has gates which can be lowered, to restrict the flow of the river into Fairbanks. Behind the dam, is a huge reservoir, which diverts water to the Tanana River. (Here’s an illustration showing the placement of the dam) This area is more than 20,000 acres in size. For a comprehensive explanation of the dam and how it functions, read Ned Rozell’s article in the Alaska Science Forum.
A couple of days ago, Steve and I took a drive around town so that I could take some photos of the flooding. Our first stop was the Chena Flood Control Project. I wanted to see the dam in action. This panoramic photo shows the dam, with gates lowered. As you can see, there is quite a log jam building up. Cranes are on duty - plucking the debris from the river, and loading it into trucks to be hauled off.
