There’s a lot of excitement around these parts. Everyone is focused on the big breakup. No, I’m not talking about some tabloid celebrity split—I’m talking about ice.
Every year, the rivers break up. And every year, bookies prosper. The most publicized breakup is the ice tower on the Tanana River just upstream of where the Nenana River flows into it. People come out in droves to bet on the exact day and time that patch of ice will break up. This year, the betting pool reached $338,062.00, and there were 22 winners. Even divided 22 ways, that’s a lot of money.
A watchtower has been built at that spot. Every year, a large tripod is assembled on the ice, mounted in trenches cut about 24 inches into the ice. A cable is strung from the ice-bound tripod to a clock set in the watchtower. This tower is guarded by watchmen 24/7. When the ice breaks up it moves downstream, taking the tripod with it. Once the tripod has traveled 100 feet downriver, the cable connecting the tripod and the clock pulls out of the clock, thereby stopping the clock. That marks the exact moment of breakup. They even have an official website for this important event. It is http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/
Donnette (of the Ice Classic) describes the breakup as “a spectacular event.” Of course, it’s a welcome site because “it’s the sign that Spring is here.”
Where the Nenana and Tanana Rivers meet is not too far from Fairbanks; the Tanana then flows into the Yukon River and eventually out to the Bering Sea—and it passes a lot of villages along the way, including ours. I’m not sure why the Nenana/Tanana intersection is considered the magic spot, but it is. What happens there is somehow used to predict what will happen across the rest of the state.
When breakup happens, the ice cracks, splits, starts floating down current, and gets jammed up which forms a dam and backs up the river, causing serious flooding. This breakup and flooding happens every year, but some years are worse than others. About a week ago, a village by the name of Crooked Creek on the Kuskokwim River was wiped out. The river flooded so quickly that the residents didn’t have time to grab much of anything. They just ran, or climbed onto their roofs. The State Troopers had to go in by boat to evacuate the residents. A friend of ours was one of the rescuers.
You might ask why people live in a place where they are faced with seasonal natural disaster year after year. I think I understand. For 14 years, we raised our family in a small mountain town in southern California that was threatened by wildfire every summer—but we never considered moving. We stayed because it was our home. That’s the same reason people choose to stay in Tornado Alley and rebuild after being wiped out by a giant whirlwind. It is their home. Well, here in the land of the frozen, villages get flooded out every spring. California has fire season, the south has tornado season, and the bush of Alaska has flood season. But if a village is wiped out, people choose to stay and rebuild. This is where their friends and family are. This place is familiar. This is their home.
Here are some pictures borrowed from the above-mentioned website. You should check it out--it's an interesting read.
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