Fact Sheet Information

 

Site:  AK, Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Disaster Type(s):  Winter Storms      

Declaration Date:  April 26, 2003            

Incident Period:  March 6 - 14, 2003

 

Summary of Disaster:

 

According to the emergency manager for this borough who was interviewed for the research project, “This storm produced 0 degree temperatures (with a wind chill of –45 degrees) and 100 mile an hour winds for 2 ½ days straight.” He said, “It was like a hurricane came in and parked for 2 ½ days solid.” Due to the hurricane force winds, roofs blew off homes and buildings, and power lines went down. He also noted that in this three-day period, 160 separate fires had to be fought in these incredible windy and freezing conditions. (This amounts to what would normally be nine months of fires.)  Most of the fires were wildfires; however, a church and several homes also caught fire. Because the electricity was off, pipes froze some weeks after the disaster, as peoples’ water was restored, many people had to face broken pipes. So, there was secondary damage resulting from water.

 

Reported Injuries, Deaths, and Rescue at the Site:

 

There were no reported direct injuries, but there were five indirect injuries from the storm, as noted by the emergency manager.  An example of an indirect injury was a man who was hammering back a shingle on his roof and fell off the ladder due to the winds. There were no deaths.  Six people with mobility impairments were transferred to a Red Cross shelter from their assisted living home as the roof blew off.

 

Site Demographics:

Year	2003
FEMA Region	10
State	Alaska
County	Boroughs of Matanuska-Susitna
Disaster Types(s)	Winter Storms
FEMA Declaration Date of Disaster	06-Mar-03
Presence of CIL*at the Time of Disaster	yes
CIL*Office Type	standard
Current CIL* Presence in County/City/Boroughs	yes
Population	59322
Area in Square Miles	24682
Population Density	2
Caucasian (%)	87.60%
African American (%)	0.70%
Native American (%)	5.50%
Asian Pacific	0.70%
Hispanic (%)	2.50%
Median House Hold Income	$51,221
Above Median House Hold Income	No
Per Capita Income	$21,105
Below Poverty (%)	11.00%
Number of Persons with Disabilities over age 5	8923
Persons with Disabilities over age 5 (%)	16.5%
Number of Persons with Physical Disabilities over age 5	4528
Persons with Physical Disabilities over age 5 (%)	8.4%

CIL* means Center for Independent Living