Homer Alaska - News

A little snow — or a lot, as the case might be on the southern Kenai Peninsula — wasn't enough to keep long-time Homer resident Barbara de Creeft from shopping at Safeway's senior day on Tuesday.

"This is the first time I've had to shovel out," said de Creeft, using a broken-handled shovel to clear her Lakeshore Drive driveway. "But I'm not going to miss stocking up at Safeway's senior day."

Store manager Bob Malone said Tuesday's 10 percent discount for shoppers 62 years old and older would continue through Wednesday due to the blizzard that hit the Kachemak Bay area late Monday and continued through Tuesday morning.

"I don't want anyone getting a heart attack getting down here," said Malone. "There's no need to rush."

According to Michael Lawson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage, a cold front affecting the whole north gulf coast stirred up winds gusting to 57-60 miles per hour around Homer. Snowfall measured only about three inches, but the winds pushed it into drifts measuring four and five feet in height.

That snowfall had residents busy shoveling driveways, business owners clearing parking lots and city and state personnel clearing highways.

Some people were choosing to leave their vehicles at home and let someone else do the driving.

"We're pretty busy," said James Anderson, a driver for Kachecab.

Not on the highways Tuesday were southern peninsula school buses operated by First Student for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. By 6 a.m., the decision had been made to close schools on the southern peninsula, with Ninilchik School experiencing a two-hour start delay.

"We post that immediately on the district's Facebook page, Twitter and on the website. Then we begin calling radio stations and other media sources," Pegge Erkeneff, KPBSD communication specialist, said of the school districts procedure for reaching families.

A Homer spokesperson for Era Aviation said the 7:30 a.m. flight from Anchorage was cancelled due to low visibility and blizzard conditions. The 11:10 a.m. flight was late, but did make it in.

Flights across Kachemak Bay, however, were experiencing longer delays.

"We are on weather hold due to the current weather system," said Paul Lawrence, chief pilot for Smokey Bay Air. "The airports we service are, as we speak this morning, being plowed. I expect when the weather lifts and visibility is back up, that the runways in Seldovia Port Graham and Nanwalek will be available and open for traffic."

Tuesday's severe weather conditions caused power outages in several locations, according to Joe Gallagher, public relations coordinator for Homer Electric Association. Shortly after noon on Tuesday, three areas were reported out of power:

• North Fork Road between Anchor Point and Homer;

• East End Road near Fritz Creek;

• Hutler Road.

"HEA would like to remind homeowners who are operating generators to make sure they are taking proper precautions," Gallagher said in a press release issued shortly after noon Tuesday. "If operated incorrectly, the generator can send power back on to the electric system and cause serious injury or death to lineman working on the power line."

Gallagher said it is very important that a transfer switch exist between the generator and the HEA system, and that the transfer switch be equipped with a visual opening to ensure the generator is not back-feeding into the HEA system. Correct installation can be verified by a qualified electrician, said Gallagher.

With snow measuring one to two feet deep on the floats of the Homer Harbor, Harbormaster Bryan Hawkins had a message for vessel-owners.

"Please come clear the boats and fingers on the floats," said Hawkins.

While winds had calmed and snow had stopped by Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service's Lawson said the storm isn't over.

"We're in for another shot tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon and continuing through Thursday morning," said Lawson.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.