Alaskan community buried in snow seeks help
Posted January 10, 2012 1:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two Alaska communities are seeking outside help after an exceptionally harsh winter left one buried in snow and the other iced in and facing a fuel shortage.
Dozens of U-S National Guard members are helping the fishing town of Cordova dig out from mountains of snow that collapsed roofs, triggered avalanches and trapped some people in homes.
This winter, almost 4.5 metres of snow has fallen on Cordova, with a series of bursts that ended with a drenching rain over the weekend.
The rain added substantial weight to the snow and slicked the landscape.
Some roofs have collapsed or partially caved-in under the wet snow that’s at least 1.8 metres high on some buildings.
Responders and local volunteers were trying to shovel out buildings considered most at risk yesterday.
More than 11-hundred kilometres to the northwest, the old gold rush town of Nome is awaiting the arrival of a Russian tanker that’s barely inching along in its mission to deliver much-needed fuel.
Shifting ice in the Bering Sea is making it difficult for the Russian tanker Renda to deliver the fuel.
