The residents that endured flooding last month on Hatcher Pass Road, near Willow, are now able to use Borough roads to get back to their homes.
Tom Smayda, Emergency Service Manager for the Borough, says that last week the water stopped flowing through the residential areas including Michelle Drive, Gina Circle and Kelly Drive. He says access to homes on Borough roads is now possible. The area is close to mile 3 of Willow Fishhook Road, otherwise known as Hatcher Pass Road.
The assumption is that the river backed up and jammed. The main jam broke but left ice blocks in the channel, allowing flooding over the banks. At least a foot of water became an icy channel flowing through a residential subdivision.
The flooding affected about a dozen homes, although Smayda says he thinks there were only 2 or 3 homes occupied full time that were affected. The others are seasonal homes and people were not in the area at the time of the flooding. He says there is still a lot of ice in the forest between homes, but the roads themselves are clear enough for residents to use. One resident still has about 8 inches of ice on her driveway and along part of the Borough road. That area promises to be hazardous during spring breakup.
Smayda says that the Borough is looking at possible hazard smitigation in that area in the future. That means applying for federal funding. At a minimum, he says, they hope to reconstruct the old Michelle Drive bridge which washed out years ago. The only current access to the homes in the area is the Shirley Towne bridge.
