300 loads of snow removed so far from ‘once-in-a-century’ 80ft-deep Alaskan avalanche

Without intervention, the area would likely remain cut off until summer

The sheer scale of the “once-in-a-century” Alaskan avalanche has been emerging this week as public officials revealed that 300 loads of snow have been removed so far from the slide.

Some 20 trucks are on the ground clearing the snow and will continue as planned, the Municipality of Anchorage said on Tuesday, pending any changes to safety at the site.

It will take several weeks to remove the snow, and without intervention, the area would likely remain cut off until summer. Snow was currently being cleared only during daylight hours so that the snowpack could be monitored for any potential movement.

Residents were evacuated from the Hiland Road area in Eagle River on Anchorage’s outskirts this past weekend.

The avalanche cut off access to about 100 homes, and some lost power. No one was reported missing and no one was injured. The damage to properties is still being assessed.

Drone footage shows the aftermath of an avalanche down a mountainside at Hiland Road in Anchorage, Alaska on March 27 (MICHAEL D. LARSON via REUTERS)

Public officials asked people to stay clear of the immediate slide area where a secondary avalanche is still possible.

The first avalanche had come down the mountainside shortly before midnight on Thursday. It has covered 300-400 feet of road, and left an estimated 80 feet-deep layer of snow in places. Only about half the snow in the slide zone was released.

Emergency responders had to cut a trail to reach stranded residents and remove people in snowmobile shuttles.

“To protect the lives and property of residents impacted by the avalanche on Hiland Road I issued a disaster declaration this morning ensure every Municipal resource is utilized & ready to deploy,” Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson tweeted on Saturday.

The aftermath of an avalanche down a mountainside at Hiland Road in Anchorage, Alaska (MICHAEL D. LARSON via REUTERS)

“Our highest priority remains the safety of our friends & neighbors in the area.”

Among the mitigation efforts was a plan to drop explosives by helicopter to instigate a controlled avalanche.

Avalanches are common in the Chugach Mountains which form a dramatic backdrop to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city with a population of about 300,000 people.

However local officials said that this avalanche was unprecedented, describing it as a “once-in-a-hundred-year event’.