Early-morning Election Day voters in Anchorage had to contend with high winds and downed power poles Tuesday that caused an outage slowing Midtown traffic.
A high wind warning for the Anchorage area, in effect until noon Tuesday, calls for gusts up to 75 mph at higher elevations like the Anchorage Hillside and along Turnagain Arm. East to southeast winds are expected to reach 30 to 50 mph.
NWS meteorologist Michael Kutz said Tuesday that the winds will also affect much of the Anchorage Bowl.
“It’s going to be pretty breezy, in the 20 to 30-mile-per-hour range, over most of the lower-level Anchorage area,” he said.
Kutz urged people heading to the polls to “make sure they wear something that keeps them protected from the wind, not blowing away so they lose their place in line.”
Alaska Public Media reporters saw early lines at polling places across Anchorage, ranging from a dozen people to 50 waiting to vote soon after polls opened at 7 a.m.
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Chugach Electric reported downed power poles shortly before 7 a.m. at West 64th Avenue and the Old Seward Highway, causing an outage that affected about 3,100 members and briefly shut down many traffic signals along Tudor Road. Power was restored in about an hour, but police have closed Old Seward in both directions between Dowling Road and West 64th.
Chugach spokeswoman Julie Hasquet said Tuesday morning that power was diverted to other substations in the area, after three poles and their lines were brought down at the intersection. It wasn’t immediately clear to initial responders whether the outage was wind-related.
“It was too dark to tell what downed the poles,” Hasquet said.
Hasquet said that crews and police remained at the scene clearing the poles, with Old Seward remaining closed until at least noon according to police.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
