The community of Fort Yukon is able to relax after days of worry as it appears the danger from flooding is mostly over.
Late Wednesday night, dozens of residents watched as slabs of river ice suspected to be from a once-menacing ice jam 12 miles up the Yukon River passed safely below the town’s levee. The ice jam had accumulated a lake of water estimated to be 7 miles wide and 30 miles long, which could have created a serious flash flood if it broke all of a sudden.
Early Wednesday, the ice jam developed a large hole that likely grew, sending more ice downriver.
City flood coordinator Velma Carroll says she was told Wednesday night that the worst appears to be over.
