Thousands in Southcentral Alaska remain without power after Sunday’s wind and rain storm

All Anchorage schools were closed Monday due to what district officials described as weather-related issues including power outages, slick parking lots and building maintenance needs.

A ferocious storm pounded Southcentral Alaska with high winds and rain on Sunday, with gusts higher than 100 mph reported in a few locations and hurricane-force winds even at some lower elevations around the Anchorage Bowl. Rain and melting snow from record warmth — the National Weather Service registered a new high of 44 for the date on Sunday — left water pooled in lower-lying areas.

Power outages began Sunday and persisted through the night, with thousands still without electricity Monday morning as crews scrambled to address widespread issues that could extend, for some, into Tuesday. Reports were surfacing of damage including shredded roofing and siding, toppled fences and downed trees.

“Although our crews have worked through the night, we continue to have schools without power, dangerous and unsafe parking lots due to extremely slick conditions, and maintenance issues within schools that have to be addressed,” the Anchorage School District said in a Facebook post and email.

Mat-Su Borough schools in the Susitna Valley also were closed due to icy pavement and standing water, the school district said. Those schools are Su-Valley Jr./Sr. High, Talkeetna Elementary, Trapper Creek Elementary and Willow Elementary.

[Part of pedestrian bridge collapses onto Seward Highway in South Anchorage]

Nearly 5,800 Chugach Electric Association customers remained without power as of 9 a.m. Monday.

Utility officials in an update on social media said they had “all available” personnel as well as contractors working to restore power but the extent of the outages was challenging.

“It is anticipated some members may be without power into tomorrow,” Chugach officials wrote. “Unfortunately, due to the nature of the storm and damage, we are unable to give restoration times for individual outages. The outage map restoration times are not accurate. Our crews will work largest to smallest outages with one crew dedicated to oldest, regardless of the size of the outage.”

Numerous neighborhoods without power include those in the areas of DeBarr, Huffman and O’Malley roads in Anchorage, the community of Hope, and several East Anchorage and Hillside neighborhoods, according to an outage map.

Matanuska Electric Association was reporting just over 800 members without power, more than half in Eagle River.

Road conditions in the Anchorage Bowl and Mat-Su on Monday morning were described as a mix of good and fair, according to the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Alaska 511 website. The Parks Highway north of Talkeetna was described as difficult.

The Richardson Highway to and from Valdez is closed between miles 19 and 46 due to inclement weather conditions, avalanche hazard, and continuing avalanche mitigation operations, according to the site.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.