Yukon River continues to batter Eagle

The stubborn ice jam on the Yukon River near Eagle was keeping water levels well above the river banks, the National Weather Service said. The jam broke free Wednesday about 8 p.m., but flooding nevertheless increased by another four feet, hydrologist Ed Plumb said.

Waters could rise further overnight, he said.

The ice from the broken jam was expected to make a run down river toward Circle, arriving this morning. The weather service extended its flood warning to cover the stretch of river from Eagle to Fort Yukon; the warning was set to expire 4 p.m. Saturday.

Solid ice remains down river from Fort Yukon, and the weather service said moderate to major flooding was likely if ice from Circle and Eagle hit the area at once.

Ice crushed most of the buildings in Eagle Village, a tiny community just east of the city of Eagle, on Tuesday. Ice chunks, some the size of houses, pushed out of the river bank and damaged buildings along the city's Front Street, knocking several off their foundations. Officials say many others can't be salvaged.

The community is about 200 miles east of Fairbanks, along the U.S.-Canada border.

Residents of Circle had been warned of possible flooding before Saturday. Water levels there are starting to rise, and river ice has started to lift and shift. The weather service had warned that when the ice jam downstream from Eagle releases, Circle could experience its worst flooding in recent history.

There's also been a report of rising water levels farther downstream, at Fort Yukon, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesman for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

A disaster relief team consisting of officials from various state departments, the Red Cross and the Tanana Chiefs Conference was scheduled to arrive Wednesday in Eagle but poor weather delayed the team in Fairbanks.

A water tanker plane was en route to Eagle on Wednesday, and state officials were working to fill a request from Eagle city officials for life jackets, stoves, propane, sleeping bags, hand sanitizer and latex gloves, Zidek said.

Palin on Wednesday issued a disaster declaration for areas of Interior Alaska affected by flooding, including the drainages of the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Kobuk and Susitna rivers.

The declaration allows greater coordination among state agencies, and will provide easier access to state disaster relief funds and receipt of federal funds if there is a federal disaster declaration.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for such a declaration Wednesday.

Palin says a formal written declaration will be issued when spring flooding is over and ice is free from rivers. That way, the total number of people affected and the total damages can be assessed by state and local governments.

In the city of Eagle, much of the damage to downtown buildings occurred when ice was pushed over a retaining wall and against a row of buildings along Front Street. At least four buildings were knocked off their foundations. Two of them, an old log cabin used as a storage shed and an old sauna, were carried down the river.

"The restaurant is floating around," Jackie Helmer told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "The store is there, but it has ice up to the roof. The bed and breakfast is still standing. It's kind of cockeyed, but it's still there."

The National Park Service estimated 10 homes in Eagle were damaged or destroyed and an estimated 30 of the area's 125 residents were homeless.