Update, 7:15 p.m.City officials said Sunday night that efforts to further reduce the risk of an avalanche over Hillland Street were successful and said residents who had been evacuated earlier in the day would be allowed to return. The area was the site of a deep, heavy avalanche late Thursday that buried the road, nearly hitting many homes and cutting off more than 100 homes on the other side of the landslide. A helicopter dropped a series of explosives on a snowmobile over the road late Sunday afternoon. A Daily News photographer heard 10 explosions. The office of Mayor David Bronson issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying: Attempts to mitigate the avalanche on Hilland Street were completed and successful. Security teams have assessed the potential risks for re-entry. Significant hazards remain in place until snow removal work is completed. The public will be allowed to return to the area affected by the immediate evacuation order. We warn residents not to return to their homes until the snow is gone. Safety risks will be assessed daily until further notice. The maintenance crews will start work to remove the snow from tomorrow, depending on the daily safety assessments. If the conditions remain safe, we expect the snow removal to take two weeks. When asked for details, spokesman Corey Allen Young said: “The commander of the incident received a degree of confidence from avalanche experts that the area is safe to begin clearing snow.” #HilandAvalanche UPDATE: Mitigation efforts are complete and successful. Security teams have assessed the potential risks for re-entry. However, significant risks remain until the snow removal work is completed. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/OYc1DIiz7l – Anchorage OEM (@Anchorage_OEM) March 28, 2022 This is a story that is evolving and will be updated. • • • Older history: Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson on Sunday ordered the evacuation of residents in an area of the Eagle River near a huge avalanche that cut off about 100 homes as of late Thursday. Authorities opposed the protest with all available police forces, special services and the army. “ About half of the mountain snow fell in the avalanche, about seven miles above Hillland, City Director Amy Deboski said on Sunday. The remaining snow was in danger of falling on its own, officials said, and they tried to evacuate residents between Milepost 7.0 and 7.9 of Hiland Road from the area before setting off the remaining snow with explosives falling from a helicopter. Snowmobiles were used to transport residents around the avalanche to safety. As a helicopter flew over the area, a series of explosions were heard from the mountainside. No additional avalanches occurred immediately. Officials said they hoped to begin the mitigation on Sunday before 8pm, before the weather changed, said incident commander Alex Boyd, assistant chief of the Anchorage Fire Department. Officials pushed to begin easing the avalanche on Sunday ahead of a storm that was expected to bring snow and high winds to higher altitudes starting at night. The mitigation process, using helicopters and explosives, is likely to take several days, officials said. The city was assisted by the state in the operation, officials said. The avalanche, which according to the city occurred on Thursday around 23:30, is about 300-450 feet wide and about 60-80 feet deep, according to the Anchorage Office of Emergency Management. The mayor issued a declaration of emergency on March 26. On Sunday the city published the evacuation order and a newsletter for the residents of the area. An avalanche covers Hilland Street with 60 to 80 feet of snow on Friday, March 25, 2022 on the Eagle River. (Lauren Holmes / ADN) “The size of this avalanche is huge,” Deboschi said. “It has been described by avalanche experts as a fact that happens once in 100 years.” About 100 households remain cut off from main road access and many of these homes are still without electricity. Brendan Castello, who was in bed when the avalanche hit, said he woke up when the power went out but did not pay much attention to it. The next morning when the current did not return, he learned about the avalanche and went down to see it. “I drove down to the hill and came around and saw that it was, you know, over 40 feet, just across the street and I thought, ‘Oh, no, we’re definitely not going to school today,’” he said. he said. “I realized, ‘My God, several days will pass.’ Castello used his generator to heat the house and drove his snowman to the Eagle River to make sure he and his family had supplies. An emergency evacuation route from West River Drive remains in use with snowmobile support for transportation, Misty Rose Nesvick, a public information officer at the Anchorage Emergency Operations Center, said in an email. The Red Cross opened a shelter for the displaced at the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center, but put it on standby Sunday night, with volunteers available to reopen it and help residents. Nesvick said shelter options for both humans and pets are on standby right now and are ready to welcome customers when needed.
