ANCHORAGE, Alaska — One town is buried in snow. Another is iced in. The winter is being meaner than usual for at least two Alaska communities.
Dozens of National Guard members are helping the town of Cordova dig out from mountains of snow that collapsed roofs, triggered avalanches and trapped people in homes.
By one count, more than 10 feet of snow has fallen in the town of 2,000 in a few weeks.
With high winds, more snow and possibly rain coming, people were trying Monday to shovel out buildings considered most at risk.
Almost 700 miles to the northwest, the old gold rush town of Nome is iced in, awaiting the arrival of a Russian tanker that’s barely inching along in its mission to deliver fuel.
A Coast Guard vessel is cutting a path in the thick ice of the Bering Sea, but ship crews are encountering challenges that are sometimes forcing the vessels to come to a stop.
This winter, almost 15 feet of snow has fallen on Cordova, with a series of bursts that ended with a rain drenching over the weekend that added substantial weight to the snow and slicked the landscape.
The town issued a disaster declaration Friday, prompting the National Guard to send more than 70 troops Sunday.
At the Coho Cafe restaurant and bar, the roof of a back shed caved in when snow from the restaurant’s pitched roof slid off and hit it Saturday evening. The restaurant wasn’t open, and no one was hurt.
Kara White, a waitress and bartender, heard the surreal roar of the collapse. “There’s no description for it,” she said during a break from shoveling.
