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Fairbanks One
Thu Aug 07, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. Twenty-six years ago, Fairbanks, Alaska
experienced the most devastating flood in the city's history. Amy Mayer has this look back at
that soggy August.
People in Fairbanks expect rain in August. And folks who live along the Chena River, which
runs through downtown, were used to small floods. They came in the spring as chunks of ice
melted and started to float, but got stuck in the channel. A major flood seemed so unlikely
that, as the water level climbed on August 12, 1967, residents were assured via radio that
there was no danger. But by the end of the day, almost three-and-a-half inches of rain had
fallen - more than the average for all of August. An area almost five miles wide sloshed in
the flood waters that reached nearly as high as stop signs in some areas. The Army and the
National Guard used helicopters to pluck people from their roofs.
The flood closed road and train access to the rest of the state. Some residents spent weeks
huddled in shelters or bunking with friends.
When the waters had receded and life resumed some normalcy, planners and politicians got to
work. By 1981, the Chena River Flood Control Project could curb the river's flowdiverting
would-be flood waters into an awaiting flood plain and toward the bigger Tanana River -- a
system which performed as expected in 1992 flooding. Today, The Army Corps of Engineers
manages the dam and says total money saved in prevented damages has almost paid for the
massive project's construction. The Corps hopes to ensure that the Chena River in downtown
Fairbanks never again jumps its banks.
Amy Mayer reports from Fairbanks, Alaska. The Weather Notebook is supported by Subaru of
America and The National Science Foundation. We are a production of the Mount Washington
Observatory.
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