Koyukuk sits about 14 miles downriver from the ice jam that caused massive flooding and a near-complete evacuation of Galena this week. Several hundred people are estimated to have fled the community... (Associated Press) 
 
 A colossal river ice jam that caused major flooding in a remote Alaska town was starting to churn Wednesday as water finally chewed ice chunks away from the stubborn, frozen mass after most of the residents were forced to flee from the rising water. An aerial survey Wednesday afternoon revealed chunks of ice have broken off at the front of the 30-mile (50-kilometer) ice jam on the Yukon River, National Weather Service hydrologist Ed Plumb said. The National Guard flew 32 more people and 19 dogs to Fairbanks Tuesday night. The flooding lifted homes off foundations and has threatened to break a dike protecting the airport, virtually the only dry spot left in the community of 500 where floodwaters washed out roads and submerged homes. Zidek said the damage is being assessed and a disaster policy cabinet will forward recommendations to Gov. Sean Parnell visited Galena Tuesday and members of his cabinet met Wednesday to discuss whether the state should declare a disaster emergency, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesman for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. A disaster declaration could unlock state relief money for the village, he said. In this May 27, 2013 photo released by the National Weather Service, the ice jam on the Yukon River at Bishop Rock is shown in Galena, Alaska.
– The remote Alaska town of Galena is accustomed to spring flooding, so much so that many of its homes are built on stilts, reports the AP. But it wasn't prepared for what it faced this week: a 30-mile ice jam that literally jammed the Yukon River and unleashed intense flooding on the town. The waters began to rise Sunday and by yesterday many of Galena's 500 residents had fled via plane, with a few holdouts camping at the airport, one of the only dry spots left. Homes have been ripped from their foundations, cell and electrical service is down, and the bridge to the airport was knocked out. A Weather Service hydrologist at the scene tells the Anchorage Daily News that bathrooms aren't functioning and "there are houses that are totally submerged in water up to the roof." Though no injuries or deaths have been reported, locals say just about every house has suffered damage. And with temps hitting the 80s, the jam is starting to break up—putting a community 14 miles downriver from the jam at risk. Says Koyukuk's mayor, "We're looking at a flash flood. Something like a dam breaking." The expectation is that when the jam breaks, it will send a wave of water toward Koyukuk, reaching it in about four hours.