Winds calm, but more may be on the way

Thursday, November 29 2007

Unalaska, AK – Unalaska is getting a break from the high winds that kicked up yesterday, but it might not last long.

The wind has died down to about 25 mph as of this morning, but the National Weather Service is warning that a low pressure system in the North Pacific could result in gusts as high as 90 mph by sometime tomorrow.

Winds reached a peak of 80 mph yesterday afternoon, which was enough to pick up a 40-foot container van and pitch it down General's Hill, damaging one home. That container can still be seen on the hillside, and doesn't appear to be moving from where it landed yesterday.

Public Safety Department Lt. Jamie Sunderland said his office didn't receive any other reports of damaged property last night, and the container appears to be an isolated incident.

"It must have been a heck of a gust of wind to blow it over where it did," Sunderland said.

Sunderland said there was a lot of minor flooding as rains picked up in the afternoon and evening, including foot-deep water in front of Eagle's View Elementary and six-inch-deep pools on Captains Bay Road near the Westward Seafoods plant.

But most of the road damage was in less well-trafficked areas. There was flooding on Summer Bay Road near the landfill and serious erosion on Pyramid Creek Road, and a mudslide closed part of Yulakta Drive. But Sunderland said that city roads crews cleared that stretch of road, and were working on the others this morning.

"Today, it doesn't look too bad," he said. "You see a lot of gravel and dirt on the roads, but the roads crews have been very responsive in taking care of all of the problems."

The Public Safety Department's wind advisory, which went into effect yesterday evening, ends at 6 p.m. tonight, but the National Weather Service does have a high winds watch in place through tomorrow.

Pen Air staff at the Unalaska Airport said that are expecting flights to make it in this afternoon, although those planes are currently on the ground in King Salmon. One freight flight and one passenger flight arrived yesterday morning, but the other passenger and charter flights were cancelled.



News Community About Site by Joseph Redmon