1967 Fairbanks flood

Last updated
1967 Tanana Valley Flood
Date12–20 August 1967
Location Salcha, Fairbanks, Nenana, Minto, Fort Wainwright
Deaths6
Property damage$170+ million (1967)

The 1967 Tanana Valley Flood or 1967 Fairbanks Flood was a severe flood that affected east-central Alaska in August of 1967. The city of Fairbanks, nearby Fort Wainwright, and Nenana saw record breaking water levels and widespread damage. Flooding was recorded over a large swath of the state, from Eagle on the east to Ruby on the west. Many major tributaries to the Yukon River saw flooding, including the Salcha, Chatanika, Tolovana, lower Tanana, and Birch Creek rivers. The worst flooding occurred in the White Mountains northeast of Fairbanks, although this area is sparsely populated.

Contents

All of Fairbanks was flooded, and more than 12,000 people were evacuated. Fairbanks and Nenana were declared national disaster areas. Six deaths were reported, along with damage exceeding $170 million. Due to repeated previous flood damage, the community of Minto relocated nearly 20 miles to the north after this flood.

As a result of the flood and to help prevent further disasters, stream and precipitation gauges were installed in the Chena River basin to monitor water levels. The U.S. Congress also approved the Flood Control act of 1968, authorizing the building of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project, which includes the Moose Creek Dam, the Tanana River Levee, and various drainage channels.

Background

Historically, the Tanana River saw varied rates of flooding. Sediment studies at Luke's Slough, which is about 9 miles southwest of Fairbanks, show that between 1000 AD and 0 AD, flooding was relatively common. After that, floods were rare up until the around the 1500s. In the last 400 years, there were only three major floods in the sediment record, with a recurrence interval of 125 years. [1] : 400 

On average, Fairbanks receives just over 11 inches of precipitation, either as rain or water equivalent. Roughly half of this is received from June through September as rain. By month, the averages are 1.39 inches for June, 1.84 inches for July, 2.20 inches for August, and 1.10 inches for September. Other months receive less than an water equivalent inch. [2]

Geography

Fairbanks and nearby communities were established and expanded on the Tanana River floodplain [3] [2] and there were at least 15 serious floods recorded that happened in the area. [4] The floodplain experiences two kinds of flooding, one from spring breakup and the other from short duration heavy rainfall in the summer. Major spring flooding from ice jams occurred in 1905, 1911, 1937 and 1948. [5] [1] : 394  Rain produced flooding happened only in August of 1930 before the 1967 flood. [5] The majority of the flood risk in the Fairbanks area is due to spring break up. [4] However, ice jam flooding in the region is usually restricted, while rain cause flooding affects a much larger area. [1] : 394 

As early as 1930, residents of Fairbanks expressed concern about flooding from the Tanana River. Before 1945, a channel called Chena Slough branched off of the main channel of the Tanana river, and indicated that the Tanana River might be establishing its main channel further north upstream of Fairbanks. [6]

Weather

Starting in July, a low north of Alaska and a high in the north Pacific set up a pattern of increased precipitation so that Fairbanks received over 3 inches of rain for the month. In August, a large scale pattern brought arctic air from the northwest of Alaska and increased winds from the southwest. [7] This was in part due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hope and an arctic front west of Fairbanks that brought in an atmospheric river from the Pacific on August 8th through the 11th. On August 12th, weather conditions were similar to those found in squall lines in the Great Plains of the United States. From the 13th onwards, a low pressure from Bristol Bay brought even more precipitation into the area. [2] Rain was concentrated around central to eastern Interior Alaska, with much comparatively milder rainfall values in the Alaska Range and Denali National Park. [8] : 11 

Significant rainfall occurred from August 8th and lasted until around August 20th, although it was variable at times. At the Fairbanks International Airport, a record breaking 6.15 inches of rain was reported between August 8 and 15. On the 13th, the daily record of rain at the Fairbanks Airport was broken, with 3.61 inches of observed rain, which is still the highest daily total for that station. [8] : 10  Between August 10th and 15th, several areas of heavy rain were recorded, as much as 7.18 inches just north of Talkeetna. [2]

Flood

Fairbanks Area

The flood was the worst disaster in Fairbanks' history. Roughly 95% of Fairbanks was flooded, and the flood water was depth reached a maximum of 5 feet. [2] Nearly every house received water damage, and there was at least an inch of brown mud on every submerged surface. The cost of damage in Fairbanks alone was estimated to be $85 million. [2] [4]

The Richardson Highway was washed out near Salcha for about half a mile. [2]

Elsewhere

Upstream from Fairbanks there were numerous landslides caused by heavy rain, and several stream gauges were destroyed. Chena Hot Springs road also suffered washouts. [2]

Nenana received widespread damage, and was the only other community besides Fairbanks that had a population of over 300 at the time. Flooding was caused by both the Nenana and Tanana rivers. Estimated damages for Nenana ranged about $1 million. [2]

Damage was reported by boaters along Birch Creek near Circle and a stream gauge within the Birch Creek basin was destroyed. The Steese Highway going to Circle was heavily damaged, both near Circle and along the Chatanika River corridor. Landslides were also reported in the area [2]

Downriver from Nenana, the Tolovana River contributed to flooding, causing damage along the Elliot Highway. [2]

Other damage included rural areas and the Alaska Railroad, valued at $7 million. [2]

Aftermath

Although flood control legislation was enacted in 1958, this flood brought new urgency. The U.S. Congress approved the Flood Control act of 1968, authorizing the building of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project, which includes the Moose Creek Dam, the Tanana River Levee, and various drainage channels. [6]

In order to help prevent similar disasters, a network of precipitation and stream gauges were also installed along the Chena and Tanana river basins. [4]

The community of Minto relocated from Old Minto to their current site in the years after this flood. [9]

The severity of the flood of 1967 was so much higher in magnitude than any previously recorded flood that frequency of such an event cannot be made accurately. [10]

See Also

Related Research Articles

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Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains. The native people of the interior are Alaskan Athabaskans. The largest city in the interior is Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the Tanana Valley. Other towns include North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, Eagle, Tok, Glennallen, Delta Junction, Nenana, Anderson, Healy and Cantwell. The interior region has an estimated population of 113,154.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yukon River</span> Major watercourse in northwestern North America

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon. The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi) long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,400–7,000 m3/s (230,000–250,000 cu ft/s). The total drainage area is 854,700 km2 (330,000 sq mi), of which 323,800 km2 (125,000 sq mi) lies in Canada. The total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairbanks, Alaska</span> City in Alaska, United States

Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the population of the city proper at 32,515 and the population of the Fairbanks North Star Borough at 95,655, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Alaska after Anchorage. The Metropolitan Statistical Area encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States, located 196 miles by road south of the Arctic Circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moose Creek, Alaska</span> CDP in Alaska, United States

Moose Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 747, up from 542 in 2000. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. Moose Creek is located south of Fairbanks, Alaska along the Richardson Highway. Moose Creek is bordered by Eielson Air Force Base to the south, the Tanana River to the west, and the Chena River Flood Control Project to the north.

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The Tanana River is a 584-mile (940 km) tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon (Athabaskan) tene no, tenene, literally "trail river".

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<i>Nenana</i> (steamer)

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The 2008 Tanana Valley flood or the 2008 Fairbanks flood was a flood in late July and early August 2008 that affected several rivers in the central portion of the American state of Alaska. The city of Fairbanks, Alaska saw high water levels, while the towns of Nenana, Salcha, and Old Minto received heavy damage. The Salcha River and Tanana River reached their second-highest levels since record-keeping began, while the Chena River, which bisects Fairbanks, was kept below flood stage by the use of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project.

The Chatanika River is a 128-mile (206 km) tributary of the Tolovana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Chatanika River is a clear or lightly tannic stained rapid-runoff stream that has its headwaters in the White Mountains and flows westward through valleys between summits and uplands for about four-fifths of its length before it enters Minto Flats. Once in the flats—a marshy area in which multiple streams, rivers, and lakes are located— the Chatanika joins the Tolovana, which flows into the Tanana River and on to the Yukon River. The Chatanika is thus a portion of the Yukon River drainage basin.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanana Athabaskans</span> Alaskan Athabaskan peoples

The Tanana Athabaskans, Tanana Athabascans, or Tanana Athapaskans are an Alaskan Athabaskan people from the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the Tanana River drainage basin in east-central Alaska Interior, United States and a little part lived in Yukon, Canada. Tanana River Athabaskan peoples are called in Lower Tanana and Koyukon language Ten Hʉt'ænæ, in Gwich'in language Tanan Gwich'in. In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are three or four groups identified by the languages they speak. These are the Tanana proper or Lower Tanana and/or Middle Tanana, Tanacross or Tanana Crossing, and Upper Tanana. The Tanana Athabaskan culture is a hunter-gatherer culture with a matrilineal system. Tanana Athabaskans were semi-nomadic and lived in semi-permanent settlements in the Tanana Valley lowlands. Traditional Athabaskan land use includes fall hunting of moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and small terrestrial animals, as well as trapping. The Athabaskans did not have any formal tribal organization. Tanana Athabaskans were strictly territorial and used hunting and gathering practices in their semi-nomadic way of life and dispersed habitation patterns. Each small band of 20–40 people normally had a central winter camp with several seasonal hunting and fishing camps, and they moved cyclically, depending on the season and availability of resources.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mason, Owen; Begét, James. "Late Holocene Flood History of the Tanana River, Alaska, USA". Arctic and Alpine Research. 23 (4). doi:10.2307/1551681 . Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Childers, J.M.; Meckel, J.P.; Anderson, G.S. (1972). Floods of August 1967 in East-Central Alaska (PDF) (Report). United States Printing Office. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  3. ↑ Gordon L. Nelson (1978). Hydrologic Information for Land-Use Planning Fairbanks Vicinity, Alaska (PDF) (Report). United States Geological Survey. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Cole, Dermot (2 December 2017). "Fairbanks recalls the great flood that changed everything". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  5. 1 2 William C. Cullen (12 January 1972). The Effects of the Fairbanks Alaska Flood on Residential Construction (PDF) (Report). National Bureau of Standards. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  6. 1 2 "1967 Flood of Fairbanks, Alaska". NOAA. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Davis, T. Neil. "Cause of the 1967 Fairbanks Flood". Geophysical Institute. University of Alaska Fairbanks. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  8. 1 2 Papineau, John; Holloway, Holloway. The Nature of Heavy Rain and Flood Events in Alaska (Report). Pennsylvania State University.
  9. ↑ "Flooding in Alaska". National Weather Service. US Department of Commerce. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  10. ↑ Childers, Joseph; Meckel, James (1967). Flood of August 1967 at Fairbanks, Alaska (PDF) (Report). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
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