冰層融化引發水災 阿拉斯加城鎮數百居民撤離 2013/05/30
長達30英里 (約42km)的冰層在阿拉斯加城鎮加勒納(Galena)造成淹水災情,迫使數百名居民撤離。
英國「每日郵報」(Daily
Mail)報導,美國國家氣象局(National
Weather Service)水文學家普蘭姆(Ed
Plumb)說,當地時間29日下午進行的空中調查顯示,育空河(Yukon River)前端的冰層碎裂。
洪水淹沒道路與住宅,一處保護機場的堤防差點毀壞,機場實際上成了這個擁有500居民社區唯一逃過一劫的地點,所幸並未傳出傷亡。
國民兵29日晚間將32人及19隻狗送往費班克(Fairbanks),其他居民稍早完成撤離。
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同類報導
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Thirty-mile
long ice jam causes devastating floods in Alaskan town as hundreds of residents
are forced to flee
A
huge 30-mile block of ice his causing chaos in an Alaskan town as water has
been flowing onto the land.
The colossal river ice jam, which is when
water builds up behind a block of ice, was starting to rotate Wednesday as
water finally chewed ice chunks away from the stubborn, frozen mass after most
of the residents were forced to flee from the rising water.
An
aerial survey Wednesday afternoon revealed chunks of ice have broken off at the
front of the 30-mile ice jam on the Yukon River ,
National Weather Service hydrologist Ed Plumb said.
That means the jam will move soon and
waters will begin to recede in the waterlogged town of Galena , 20 miles upriver.
The flooding lifted homes off foundations
and has threatened to break a dike protecting the airport, virtually the only
dry spot left in the community of 500
where floodwaters washed out roads and submerged homes. There are no reports of
injuries.
The National Guard flew 32 more people and
19 dogs to Fairbanks
Tuesday night. Other residents were evacuated earlier.
Kevin Ray, a state worker who moved to Galena four months ago, was among the human evacuees who
flew in on a Guard C-130 transport plane to Fairbanks ,
270 miles east of Galena .
Ray said the flight was noisy, with the constant barking of frightened dogs.
In Galena ,
Ray's office is gone. His apartment and all his possessions are under water.
'So basically, I'm kind of a homeless guy,'
Ray, 65, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday from an
American Red Cross shelter set up at a local church. 'I never thought I'd be a
victim. But hey, life is life.'
Now that the water is trying to push
through the jam, conditions could change quickly. When the jam breaks, the
downriver community of Koyukuk will be at risk
of flooding.
In an earlier flight Wednesday, Plumb said,
the ice was locked firmly in place, despite 80 degree temperatures. The hot
weather is expected to last a couple days before cooling slightly.
In Galena ,
water went over low areas of the dike Tuesday, then the water level fell. With
the threat of water topping the dike again, the state took the step of bringing
in military aircraft to aid in the evacuations of those who wanted to leave.
State emergency spokesman Jeremy Zidek said 76 residents chose to stay in a
former Air Force barracks.
The water was rising again Wednesday
morning close to the edge of the dike, which protects the runway and some
buildings including former barracks, then levels fluctuated without rising
more, Plumb said. Outside the dike, everything has been hit by flooding,
according to Plumb, who has worked for the weather service for 13 years.
'I've
never seen anything like this before,' he said. 'And I don't think these people
here (have) either. The ice jam is amazing.'
The
damage has left the town without power, fresh water and cell phone reception.
When the ice jam knocked out the bridge leading to the airport, evacuees had to
be taken there by boat or helicopter, according to Ray, who said the flooding
began with a trickle Sunday. In a place where spring flooding is nothing new,
many homes are built on stilts, but the fast rising water reached them, too.
The disaster has left people feeling
traumatized and vulnerable, Ray said.
'We didn't have any idea how vast the flood
was going to be,' he said.
Zidek said the damage is being assessed and
a disaster policy cabinet will forward recommendations to Gov. Sean Parnell,
who visited the area Tuesday.
Recommendations are likely to include
issuing a disaster declaration.
Parnell surveyed the damage on Tuesday and
had the Alaska National Guard help evacuate the estimated 75 residents still in
town.
'We expect the flooding to become worse
before the waters start to recede,' Parnell said.
'Ensuring the safety of those impacted by
the flooding remains my top priority.'
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令當地城鎮Galena水浸,洪水淹沒道路與民宅,數百名居民被迫撤離,就連當地官員稱從未見過這樣的災難,你會覺得「冰層融化」引發水災的災難是尋常嗎?
地球的反常現象已不能以氣候轉變、地球暖化變來解釋,是由外來力量引起嗎?