Warm weather causes Susitna flooding and railroad washout

Sunday 1:30 pm-The last few days of summer weather have resulted in the breakup of the Susitna river. Residents north of Talkeetna up the tracks report an exciting river breakup this year.

The Alaska Railroad isn’t so lucky and has reported a washout of the tracks near railroad milepost 251 with water and ice floes over the tracks.  No assessments can be done until the river subsides.

Railroad crews will be staging out of Talkeetna to fix the tracks.  Passengers looking to catch the southbound train today from Talkeetna will be transported to Anchorage via bus.  Alaska Railroad spokesman Tim Thompson says it is unclear if the Hurricane train will be able to run on Thursday.  All frieght traffic has been postponed until the tracks are repaired.

There have been no reports up the tracks from residents in trouble due to flooding, but they should be aware that ice floes are still headed south past Curry and the river continues to rise.

Look to this site later for posted video of breakup. (we’ll do our best to post it in the next 4 days)