The recent extreme weather changes – from the snowstorm followed by a rapid thaw and lots of rain – has tied up Wrangell’s Public Works Department.
Road crews worked non-stop over the holiday weekend to try and prevent the ditches from overflowing on roads.
Public Works Director Tom Wetor said the staff has been clearing drains by removing obstructions if the ditches are full. He said they’re going to do that all day today and tomorrow throughout the city while they continue to clear the remaining ice on the roads.
“When you get super rock hard frozen ground like that, and then we get essentially a foot of snow on top of that. And then that’s followed by 40 degree weather and two inches of rain, the grounds frozen, the water has nowhere to go,” he said. “Typically, this place is like a giant sponge.”
He said some of the drains froze and there’s only so much they can do.
“It’s impossible for us to mitigate the weather,” Wetor said. “It’s unrealistic to think that you could live in Alaska and that you’re going to have people who can essentially have roads and drains look like they do in July in December in the middle of a winter snowstorm.”
Common areas to have runoff
Wetor said areas expected to have runoff include bottoms of hills, really old portions of town with old drains and culverts where debris has filled them. He said Case Avenue would be another common place.
“I saw it this morning as well,” he said. “There’s lots of standing water and ditches and everything. But that’s a consequence of the ground being so frozen and the water essentially having nowhere to go where it would normally drain out and permeate through the ground. That’s not happening today. Hopefully in another couple days.”
He said Wrangell won’t be out of the woods for a while – first everything will warm up and get mushy, muddy and soft.
“I think people just need to slow down for a second, like we’re going to get nasty weather and that is going to impact travel,” Wetor said. “We’re going to continue to do the best that we can with it and stay on it as best we can.”
The Public Works Department focuses mostly in the city and on roads with culverts that spur off of Zimovia Highway. Wetor said although the State Department of Transportation covers Zimovia Highway, the local and state departments help each other often.
