ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Residents of a southwest Alaska community waited on conditions to improve Thursday for an opportunity to assess the damage from a storm that blew in from the Bering Sea a day earlier packing hurricane-force winds.
The storm that ripped through False Pass tore off roofs,
collapsed sheds and sent an all-terrain vehicle tumbling down the street.
A village public safety officer estimated that the winds topped out at more than 100 mph Wednesday afternoon. Part of the roof of the public safety building was torn off and other buildings were visibly damaged in the Aleutian Island community of several dozen people about 650 miles southwest of Anchorage.
False Pass City Clerk Chris Emrich said Thursday the winds were still too strong to fully evaluate the damage or begin to clean up and repair the town.
“It is a pretty dangerous storm,” Emrich said. “It is still blowing, but not quite as bad. And hopefully it ends here pretty soon.”
Sheds were collapsed or turned over. Siding was ripped off of homes. Debris and sheet metal from roofs littered the town.
The medical clinic was one of the damaged buildings. The windows were blown out and the door bowed from the force of the wind, sparking fears it would give. The door held, perhaps helped by an ambulance parked against it for support.
A roof came off a home, forcing the family to stay at the school Wednesday night.
“It was crazy winds,” Emrich said. “It felt like you were in an earthquake.”
The Bering Sea communities of St. Paul and St. George reported sustained hurricane-force winds in excess of 65 mph for several hours.
By Thursday morning, those winds had arrived in south-central Alaska.
Dave Stricklan with the National Weather Service said winds between 70 mph and 90 mph and blizzard conditions were forecast for Thursday along Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage and at higher elevations.
A 71 mph gust was recorded Thursday morning at McHugh Creek south of Anchorage. Winds in and near Alaska’s biggest city were expected to blow anywhere from 45 mph to 60 mph.
The storm also is packing a lot of snow. The area north of Talkeetna could get as much as 20 inches, Stricklan said.
The Weather Service issued eight high wind and blizzard warnings across the state.
Stricklan said strong winds and heavy snow will continue Thursday, but conditions should ease by Friday with winds diminishing in Anchorage to between 10 and 20 mph.
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