Ice Flood in Alaska

An ice jam that suddenly gave way on Alaska's mighty Yukon River sent floating ice chunks the size of homes into the town of Eagle, knocking some buildings off their foundations and damaging others.

The city and neighboring Eagle Village had earlier been flooded by the ice jam, which had backed up river water. The ice jam had kept water nearly 20 feet over the river's flood levels on Wednesday. The Yukon's flood levels at Eagle, about 200 miles east of Fairbanks, was 34 feet.

The ice jam broke Wednesday night, instantly adding four feet to earlier flooding. By Thursday, the water had receded by about 20 feet from its peak.

Satellite dishes and pallets littered muddy dirt streets near the waterfront, scattered among boulders of ice. Icebergs the size of small boats drifted by in the current.

The ice on Wednesday pushed over a retaining wall and against a row of buildings along Front Street, knocking at least four off their foundations.

Two of them, an old log cabin used as a storage shed and an old sauna, were carried down the river.

“The restaurant is floating around,” Jackie Helmer told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “The store is there, but it has ice up to the roof. The bed and breakfast is still standing. It’s kind of cockeyed, but it’s still there.”

The National Park Service said about 10 homes in Eagle were damaged or destroyed. Officials said many damaged buildings cannot be salvaged.

At least 46 of the area’s 125 residents were homeless. Many took shelter at the local school.

Mark Malcolm told the News-Miner that his family and five neighbors had lost their homes. "The houses, they are off their foundations," he said. "There is water up to the roofs. I don’t think anybody has got any flood insurance around here. Nobody thought it would get this bad."

"I’m worried about wintertime when it gets 60 below," he added. "Where am I going to be? Am I going to have a roof over my head for my kids and my woman?"

On Tuesday, large pieces of ice crushed most of the buildings in Eagle Village, a tiny community east of Eagle.

Smells like fuel
James Savage, an incident commander with the National Park Service, said a safety officer reported Wednesday that much of Eagle smelled like a fuel tank farm, presumably from ruptured fuel and oil tanks.

Sam Harrel / Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via AP Eagle resident Gary MIllard moves debris from the road in front of his home Thursday.

There was also flooding downstream in the village of Circle, including reports of 20 inches of water in one store. Water also was receding in Circle and river ice was moving past the village, but the community expected to see more water.