Evacuation order issued for avalanche-stricken Anchorage suburb
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[March 28, 2022]
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -Residents of a
suburb of Anchorage in Alaska were ordered on Sunday to evacuate a
mountainous area after one massive avalanche buried a road and another
huge slide was considered imminent.
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson issued the evacuation order, citing "a
grave and immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the
citizens" in the affected area at Eagle River, on the city's outskirts.
The avalanche roared down a mountainside shortly before midnight local
time on Thursday (0800 GMT) covering the main road with a snow layer up
to 80 feet (24 metres) deep. But only about half of the snow in the
unstable slide zone was released then, and a secondary avalanche is
considered certain, local officials said.
"If we have an uncontrolled release at an unknown time, that could
result in the loss of life. We want to do everything we can to prevent
that," Anchorage Municipal Manager Amy Demboski said at a Sunday news
conference.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/28/images/ads/current/charrons_bch_2022.png)
The avalanche cut off access to about 100 homes, some of which are now
without power, Demboski said.
The evacuation of homes in the affected neighborhood and mitigation
efforts that include placing explosives by helicopter to create a
controlled avalanche are intended to make the area safer over the coming
days, Demboski said.
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![](../images/032822PIX/news_f11.jpg)
An 80-feet wall of snow covers Hiland Road after it was buried by a
massive avalanche, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., March 26, 2022 in
this handout picture obtained on March 28, 2022. Picture taken
March, 2022. Municipality of Anchorage/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/28/images/ads/current/collins_lda_SFARM_2022.png) Emergency responders have cut a
small trail to those stranded residents and are running snowmobile
shuttles, said Assistant Anchorage Fire Chief Alex Boyd, the
incident commander.
There have been no injuries reported, said Corey Allen Young,
Bronson's spokesman, by email, and officials are assessing the
extent of damage to houses.
While avalanches are common in the region's Chugach Mountains, the
size and location of this slide make it an unprecedented event,
officials said.
"The size of this avalanche is massive. It has been described by
avalanche experts as a once-in-a-hundred-year event," Demboski said
at the news conference.
Without mitigation, the road in the area could be blocked by snow
until summer, Demboski said.
(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Karishma Singh)
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