Storm recovery continues; Northern Valley schools to open Thursday

As of Wednesday afternoon, the vast majority of power outages from the wind storm over New Year’s weekend had been restored by Matanuska Electric Association, though some small outages remain that have been ongoing since Saturday or Sunday.

The Mat-Su Borough has established an information website that includes the MEA outage map, school closure information, and the status of borough facilities. That site can be found at ready.matsugov.us. In addition, the borough has set up a non-emergency call center at 907-861-7900.

Schools remained closed across the Mat-Su on Wednesday.  Schools in the Lower Valley will remain closed Thursday, but Trapper Creek, Willow, and Talkeetna Elementary Schools, along with Su Valley, will be open on Thursday.  School officials advise allowing extra time to get to the schools that are reopening and to exercise caution.

On Tuesday, Borough Manager Mike Brown announced that the central landfill and transfer sites are waiving construction and demolition debris for residents through January 16^th to aid residents who are cleaning up damage from the high winds.

Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster emergency declaration for the storm earlier this week.  That allowed activation of the Alaska National Guard, which has been assisting borough personnel in recovery efforts.  The declaration also makes funds available for those who have suffered property damage from the recent storm. Information on assistance is available at ready.alaska.gov.