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State military and veterans affairs officials say they have canceled the Veterans Day ceremony planned for Saturday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson due to hazardous road conditions on and off base.
“We regret having to made the difficult decision to cancel the event; however, the safety and welfare of our community must always take precedent,” the statement said.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place Saturday morning on base to honor those who served in the armed forces as well as announce the 2023 Governor’s Veterans Advocacy Award recipient. It was to be hosted by Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard and commissioner of the state Department of Military & Veterans Affairs.
The decision comes on the tail of a snowstorm that dropped anywhere from 17 inches to nearly 3 feet of snow in Anchorage on Wednesday and Thursday. Light snow was forecast to continue falling throughout Friday.
Snowplows were clearing roads in Anchorage on Friday, but residents on social media described major streets that morning as having tight, narrow lanes packed with snow and rough washboard sections that made for slow, jarring travel. The city aimed to have municipal roads cleared over the weekend, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said.
Conditions along the state-maintained Glenn Highway were described by the Department of Transportation as fair by early Friday afternoon. The highway had some deep or packed snow, ice build-up and areas of rough surface, they said.