The perils of only having one road!

The Alaska Highway, aka the only way into or out of the Yukon by road, has been closed since Friday afternoon due to several massive washouts.

This is what our grocery store shelves looked like about an hour ago!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...t/B7C5702B.jpg
There isn't a bit of fresh produce anywhere in town, unless you want bok choy! Very little meat, no eggs and the dairy case was empty. The paper products aisle was pretty bare too! Some supplies were airlifted in yesterday but they are long gone! There's supposed to be another plane tonight.

Fortunately I was looking for facial moisturizer, not food! There was plenty of that kind of stuff. I think most people are overreacting, but I have a well stocked freezer/pantry. The critters have a stash of food that would last at least two weeks. I might be more worried without that stash! I did fill my van up today. The gas stations are running low too!

The highway might reopen tomorrow...partially. It will take months to fix, but the Highways Department says they are constructing one lane bypasses in the affected areas and pilot trucks will guide people through. Commerical vehicles will be let through first. I do feel badly for all the Alaska bound tourists trapped in their RVs. The roads into Alaska were closed over the weekend too, but at least one is open now; not in great shape, but it never is! You just can't get to the open highways right now unless you were already past the washed out zones!

Yikes! Glad you are well-stocked! Seems silly to have just one road to such a big area ... are there plans afoot for another? Sometimes redundancy can be a good thing!

:eek: I'm glad you keep well stocked!
Hope the supplies start coming through soon.

Glad you are well stocked. Hope they can open some road soon or airlift more in.

You are a smart woman Tamara!! Thanks for the update.

Some friends of ours have planned a motorcycle trip up to Alaska and were leaving tomorrow. At the moment they are trying to figure out an alternative route however, it sounds like no matter which way they go there will be a bottleneck:(. I pasted a part of your post onto their FB page because I don't think they considered food and gas shortages in the plan ... a very vital component in this situation.

Very happy to hear you are well stocked :). Give all those furkids a hug too please:).

Karen, no there are no plans for a second road. There is no way it could be maintained or services provided. The current highway has been in perpetual state of construction since it was built in WW2. Many of the highway lodges have closed in the last few years and the ones left are seasonal. Short closures aren't unusual in the winter. This is pretty unusual!

Bengalz...I'd strongly suggest your friends not ride bikes up the highway! The food and fuel issues will be solved in a few days, but that road won't be safe for bikes for much longer! At best it will be gravel, but its just being hacked out of the forest right now! It wont be pretty! Personally I think the section between Haines Junction & Destruction Bay is never safe for bikes! Its barely safe for trucks! I've driven better roads in third world countries!!! I know people who are taking the vehicle ferry from Seattle and then touring around Alaska, taking the ferry home again.

Thank you for that info Tamara and my friends thank you for the update. They have been getting some pretty reliable information from various sources, however, you know how conflicting that can be.

A few moments ago they confirmed that the PlanB is they will ride up to Prince Rupert and take the ferry to Haines. They are experienced riders and are taking their BMWs (not the Harleys) - BMWs are more fuel efficient. I will certainly pass along your good advice.:)