All Mat-Su schools plan to reopen Monday in aftermath of violent windstorm

PALMER — Mat-Su schools plan to reopen Monday in the aftermath of a destructive New Year’s windstorm that left facilities with a trail of broken water lines, failed boilers and other complications.

Most Valley schools stayed closed all week after a massive multiday windstorm knocked out power to thousands. Howling winds ripped buildings apart and combined with frigid temperatures to freeze pipes.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District announced Friday that plans called for any remaining repairs to be conducted over the weekend.

The district’s facilities department “is working diligently to sustain indoor temperatures to prevent further freeze-ups to domestic water lines, heating components, and fire suppression/sprinkler systems,” the district said in a statement. “However, as buildings warm, additional leaks may be discovered or pipe breaks may occur from rapid temperature changes. If additional damage is identified and a school is unable to open Monday, the District will notify families and staff.”

The storm that began Saturday and subsided Wednesday left 22,000 Matanuska Electric Association members without power at the peak of the outage. Shell-shocked residents endured another, albeit less severe, windstorm in the Matanuska Valley that started Friday afternoon and at times left hundreds without power, though power had been widely restored by Saturday.

While many households and businesses after the earlier storm had power back on by Wednesday, some remained without for up to six days.

One Palmer business, Humdinger Pizza, announced Friday that it was closing permanently due to a combination of storm-related closures, lost revenues during the pandemic, a fire in early 2021, and other factors.

“Things are tight. Losing a quarter of our revenue for January just broke our back,” owner Gordon Fletcher said in a video posted to Facebook on Friday.

Scores of other businesses experienced significant damage. Borough officials, with the help of the Alaska National Guard, are surveying the damage through Tuesday. More than 500 individual disaster assistance claims had already been filed by Thursday.

A Red Cross of Alaska shelter at the Menard Center in Wasilla will remain open through the weekend due to the new wind event.

Palmer’s courthouse will be closed to the public through at least Jan. 14 due to water damage from burst pipes, state courts officials announced Friday. Emergency matters are being handled remotely by Palmer and Anchorage judges. Domestic violence petitions can be sent to 3pacivil@akcourts.gov, and petitions after business hours can be sent to the Anchorage court at ANC_dv@akcourts.gov.

All non-emergency proceedings are suspended and will be rescheduled, a state courts representative said. It wasn’t clear when the courthouse would reopen to the public. An initial drying phase will extend through next week, when facilities staff can plan repairs.