ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Avalanches have cut off an Alaska city, and the only highway in could be closed for at least a week, if not “much longer,” state Transportation Department officials said Monday.
Several snow slides hit the area near Valdez last week, and one slide dammed the Lowe River in Keystone Canyon, causing water to flood the Richardson Highway, the department said.
The only roadway to the city of 4,100 people, and the last stop of the trans-Alaska pipeline, will be closed until further notice between Miles 12 and 64.
The city remains accessible by aircraft and boat.
Highway officials had expected snow to be cleared by at least Tuesday in the pass, which reaches an elevation of more than 2,800 feet and is one of the snowiest places in Alaska.
Over the weekend, however, highway officials discovered the flooding at a lower elevation. Some water receded into an old railway tunnel, the department said, but not enough to allow crews to begin moving debris from the avalanche.
Also, Alaska state troopers said weekend efforts to stabilize the area had been delayed for a day when two people walking toward Valdez on Saturday refused orders to stop. The two were eventually flown to the city by helicopter, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of a highway.
Crews had been using explosives to bring down additional snow in avalanche zones to make the area safer for highway workers.