In pictures: Windstorm batters Palmer and Wasilla

Mat-Su residents cope with power outages, hazardous driving, damaged property and cold.

By Bill Roth, Marc Lester and Loren Holmes
Updated: January 4, 2022 Published: January 4, 2022

A grader clears snow drifts that formed on roads in downtown Palmer during the windstorm on Sunday, Jan. 2. (Bill Roth / ADN)

A punishing windstorm that struck the Mat-Su Borough this weekend continued Monday, leaving thousands without power. The storm overturned multiple trucks and planes, shredded signs and damaged several structures. Blowing and drifting snow created hazardous driving conditions in much of the region. Schools will be closed in the Mat-Su School District through Tuesday.

Full coverage: Windstorm causes power outages, destruction and chaos in the Matanuska Valley

Brett Nye and his three-year-old son Kyron brave the windstorm while shopping at the Walmart Supercenter in Wasilla on Sunday. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Blowing snow deflects off the wing of a Cessna 172 during the windstorm at Palmer Municipal Airport on Sunday. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Multiple cargo trailers were flipped on their side along the Parks Highway during the windstorm on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. (Bill Roth / ADN)

A pedestrian struggles against strong wind and blowing snow on Evergreen Street in downtown Palmer on January 2. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A windstorm blows snow across Palmer Pioneer Cemetery along the Old Glenn Highway in Palmer on Sunday. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Wind and blowing snow buffeted a damaged Cessna 172 at Palmer Municipal Airport during the windstorm on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.

A KFC and A&W restaurant along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway in Wasilla shows damage from high winds on Monday, Jan. 3. (Marc Lester/ADN)

Trees catch windblown debris along a frontage road of the Parks Highway in Wasilla on January 3. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A sign along Bogard Road glows despite being toppled in Wasilla on January 3, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A fallen tree rests atop power lines on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 in Palmer. Strong winds have knocked out power for around 15,000 people in the area. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Shannon Hall gets back into her warm truck after checking for mail during a multiple-day power outage at her home on Monday in Palmer. Her home is without heat, water or electricity. Hall was wearing a bathrobe as one extra layer to stay warm. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Gunner Hodgson and his father Joel Hodgson work to extricate Gunner’s truck, which was high-centered on a snow drift and then surrounded by blowing snow, on Monday in Palmer. Gunner’s grandfather, 90-year-old Jerry Hodgson, was also on hand to help with a snow plow on another truck. “We’ve got a three generation snow removal crew,” said Gunner. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Wind shredded a flag along the Parks Highway in Wasilla on January 3, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A sign for Sonic restaurant is damaged along the Parks Highway in Wasilla on Monday. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Wind shreds plastic sheeting on a structure in Wasilla on Monday. (Marc Lester / ADN)

The Carrs grocery store in Palmer was heavily damaged during the windstorm. The damage includes a missing portion of the roof, signs blown away, and ice from broken pipes which trapped two vehicles near the entrance. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The remains of a storage shed, with its contents strewn among the debris, lies across a street from a baseball field on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 in Palmer. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Patrick Taylor checks on frozen food that he put on his deck to stay cold during a multiple-day power outage at his home on Monday in Palmer. Taylor says that he and his family have been without power or water for 2 days. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

A pickup truck and trailer is overturned on a ramp from Trunk Road to the Parks Highway near Wasilla on January 3, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)