Strong winds pummel Mat-Su region

Strong winds blowing through the Mat-Su area, wreaked havoc in the Wasilla Palmer area but for the most part spared the upper Susitna valley from damages.Matanuska Electric Association spokeswoman Lorali Carter said that there were “tons of outages” throughout the MEA service area. Carter said 15 different outages occurred on Thursday and some areas are still without power as of Friday.

Clint Vardeman, deputy director of the Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services said that most of the wind damage reported occurred in the Palmer and Wasilla area. In Wasilla, a 62-year old man was hit by a falling tree and transported to Mat-Su Regional with minor injuries. Off the Glenn Highway, a roof blew off a house addition and smashed into a parked truck. Between Palmer and Wasilla, a tree crashed onto a powerline, which then fell on a house.

Talkeetna stationed Alaska State Troopers didn’t receive any storm damage reports and Chulitna DOT personnel were not aware of any wind related accidents or tree blockages on the Parks Highway either. The strongest gusts recorded by the National Weather Service in Talkeetna were 23 miles per hour. Further up the valley, the Chulitna station recorded the peak winds blowing 41 miles per hour shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday.