This has become the new norm across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Late winters and sudden thawing have turned roads into slush and made rivers and sloughs, which are necessary for travel, less safe because they take longer to freeze.
Most Kuskokwim River communities have escaped heavy flooding so far, but not Kwethluk. Social media photos show water rising high and completely covering
Two four-wheelers carrying five men leaving Bethel broke through needle ice on the upper end of Church Slough on Sunday night. Two of the men died, while three others were treated for hypothermia in Bethel.
Travelers need to stay off Straight Slough, which flows into the main Kuskokwim River near Bethel.
Drivers need to stick to marked trails on the Lower Kuskokwim River, according to the latest update from Bethel Search and Rescue’s Earl Samuelson. There is a spot in front of Oscarville that has only 9 inches of ice, which Samuelson says is too thin to drive a truck on.
The river is so rough in the Upper Kuskokwim area that it is impassable to vehicle and snow machine traffic. Big boulders of snow-covered ice are scattered across the river caused by high water and a late freeze up.
The ice road on the frozen Kuskokwim River has been plowed to its longest length ever: 355 miles. That’s longer than most traditional highways in the state.
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