Stay off the river. That's the message from Bethel Search and Rescue President Mike Riley to Kuskokwim-area residents. Weeks of above freezing temperatures and rain have led to deep standing water and even a partial break up in some sections.
Riley says that the heavy water from weeks of thawing runoff is putting enormous pressure on the ice below, weakening and cracking it. This has made travel unsafe, even for four wheelers and snow machines.
“And we never know what’s going to be underneath that water," Riley warned, "so it is advised not to be traveling on that river.”
The mouth of the Johnson River has even begun breaking up along the edges.
“It just is a result of all this warm weather and high water, putting stress on the ice itself,” Riley said.
Two nearby holes have been reported upriver, close to the main truck trail: one below Kwethluk and the other above Akiachak.
Riley says Bethel Search and Rescue responded to calls each night during the four-day New Years weekend to assist people on four wheelers who’d become stranded in the deep water.
“Everybody was not able to distinguish what the river was doing or how deep the water was," said Riley. "Fortunately, everybody was okay and got rescued or walked off the river itself."
But everyone could just have easily not been okay. Riley says even experienced travelers are coming close to not making it home.
"We just want everyone to be safe and be able to go home at night and be with their families and not put their families in stress, worrying about them traveling during this dangerous time,” he said.
The danger might not last much longer. The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures dropping below freezing beginning Tuesday night and continuing through the week. Riley says the thin ice forming above the standing water will take time to stabilize, and until Search and Rescue gives the go-ahead, residents should stay off the river.
