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.
Brrrrr!
Never been in that kind of cold...
Grew up on the great Plains , we could get wind chill factors like that though.
Thanks. Now that you posted that, it seems obvious.
Actually the temperature in Tok yesterday morning was -68 and this morning it's -70. Tok does not have an official weather station and the closest one is the village of Northway so Tokites rely on each other's thermometers to get a good idea of the average temp in Tok on any given day. As the story goes, Tok began as a government experiment to prove once and for all that hell DOES freeze over. LOL
I am guessing they wish they had some OIL TO BURN!
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