Yentna flood warning runs to Friday after forecast crest above 22 feet

A flood warning for the Yentna River including Lake Creek remains in effect until 1 p.m. AKDT Friday. The river was forecast to crest slightly above 22 feet early Wednesday. That is above the 21-to-22-foot range at which the National Weather Service said several lodges may have water in or around low-lying cabins.

That forecast window has passed. The warning carries no observed river stage from after it.

In the warning, NWS Anchorage said flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues, that flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or occurring, and that streams continue to rise due to excess runoff from earlier rainfall.

Flood stage on the Yentna River at Lake Creek is 20.5 feet, according to the warning. Flooding is ongoing, the warning says. The one impact threshold it spells out is the 21-to-22-foot range, where several lodges may have water in or around low-lying cabins.

The river stage at Lake Creek was 20.7 feet at 7:51 a.m. Tuesday, above the 20.5-foot flood stage. That is the most recent reading the warning gives.

The hazard is not only the water. "Trees and debris larger than telephone poles have been observed flowing down the river," NWS Anchorage said in the warning issued Tuesday afternoon.

Between 1.0 and 2.5 inches of rain had fallen in the warned area as of Tuesday afternoon, the warning said. It put additional possible rainfall at 0.5 to 1 inch, with higher amounts possible in the upper Yentna Basin.

The people most exposed are the lodge operators and cabin owners along the river near Lake Creek. It is a bush-access corridor where earlier NWS advisories have said water enters several cabins at Anglers Inn and King Point Lodges once the river hits 20.5 feet, forcing operators to move guests and gear and to elevate equipment. Past advisories have told cabin residents and river users to stay alert and be ready to take action, with floodwaters able to inundate trails and informal access routes and debris-laden currents complicating resupply. Some experienced operators and cabin owners have argued that minor flooding at these levels is a recurring, manageable condition they adapt to without full evacuation.

This is the latest in a run of heavy-rain and high-water episodes on the Yentna this summer. NWS Anchorage issued repeated flood advisories for the Western Susitna Valley through July. A flood watch covering the Western and Central Susitna Valley preceded this warning, with forecasters citing 3 to 5 inches of rain in the upper Yentna, Chulitna and Susitna basins.

An Alaska News article on July 23, "The Yentna is a foot over flood stage, and cabins are taking water," noted the river a foot above flood stage with water in cabins at Anglers Inn and King Point Lodges.