Summertime in Kaktovik!
Posted on 01/11/2005 9:43:47 PM PST by Mike Fieschko
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Alaska National Guard helicopter reached a frozen Arctic village on Tuesday with technicians who hoped to repair its electrical generator, which failed Sunday during a blizzard that sent the temperature to 20 below zero.About 100 of Kaktovik's 300 residents were in the village's equipment maintenance building because it still had power. Others were heavily dressed and hunkered down in other buildings with stoves or small generators.
Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Kalei Brooks said the helicopter and a cargo plane approached the village Tuesday afternoon. Snow drifts on a runway kept the airplane from landing, but the helicopter touched down in Kaktovik itself 2 to 3 miles away.
The time on the ground was brief — just five to 10 minutes, Brooks said.
"It was on the ground long enough to offload the technicians they need to restore the power," she said, plus about 600 pounds of portable generating equipment.
Conditions in Kaktovik were a little colder Tuesday with a reading of 25 degrees below zero and winds gusting up to 65 mph, according to the National Weather Service (news - web sites).
Earlier air attempts to reach Kaktovik were frustrated by "a complete, total whiteout," said Mike Haller, a spokesman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
People who couldn't leave their homes were using propane stoves, kerosene heaters and wood stoves to try to stay warm, or bundling up in arctic gear. No injuries have been reported, said Dennis O. Packer, also in the mayor's office.
Plans were underway to get another 4,000 pounds of generators, oil and other equipment to the northeast Alaska village, which is on Barter Island along the Beaufort Sea coast. It's the only village in the 19.6-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Officials said if aircraft couldn't make the next delivery, the equipment would be loaded onto SnoCats for a 100-mile overland trip from Deadhorse in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.
Where's the Global warming when you need it?
Talk about cold! Brrr!!
Wonder what they were burning in the stoves? They are a little north of the tree line.
Polar Bear chips.....
In other words, same as usual.
The big problem in these situations is not people getting cold or freezing (houses keep the wind off and everybody who lives in rural Alaska has more than one source of heat.
The problem is water and sewer lines, if left un-used will freeze and that means total replacement of an entire village sewer system.
Happened in Bethel Alaska, a few years ago where the Generator Building burned down, and destroyed the generators and switch gear. Because no warm water was flowing thru the sewer, it froze and burst pipes all over town and was a total write-off. It was back to honey-buckets.
This month marks the 24th anniversary of the infamous 1981 AFC Championship Game in Cincinnati between the Bengals and the Chargers. The game was played on one of the coldest days in Ohio history; the game-time temperature was around -15, and the wind chill was measured at -59 degrees. If you've ever seen video highlights of this game, the one thing that stands out is the enormous clouds of mist emanating from each player's face as they exhaled during the game.
This is really nothing, imho. The people still have access to a building that is warm. Why are people making a big deal out of this, slow news day, I guess.
Just read "To Build A Fire" Now I'm cold.
-67F at Burwash Landing, Yukon on Kluane Lake this morning. Tok, Alaska was -57F. We get Chinook Winds in mid-winter carrying warm are off the Pacific, but these Siberian highs can be brutal and last for weeks at a time.
Heh... Yeah But its not usually as bad as you imagine. Perhaps thats because you've never seen a modern honey bucket system. Its not at all what you might think. Not dramatically different that the nicest porta-potty you have seen, other than its built into the bathroom wall, and serviced from the outside - usually by a contractor who also deals with chemical toilets. They are well vented and sanitary, and their reputation is much worse than their true nature. Now 30 years ago, things were different, there were no service companies. Most people were smart enough to use outhouses rather than try to buile it into the house in those days.
Kaktovik sits right on top of ANWR. There are many natural oil seeps in the vicinity (how do you think they discovered oil there in the first place) The people of Kaktovik have been burning mats of oil soaked tundra since before the white man arrived.
Summertime in Kaktovik!
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